Who are Sheriff Tiraspol? Man Utd’s Europa League opponents who beat Real Madrid

Manchester United will travel to the Sheriff Stadium to take on Sheriff Tiraspol in their second Europa League group stage game on Thursday evening.

The Red Devils will be looking to bounce back from their opening group stage defeat to Real Sociedad last week, with the club sat third in the standings on goal difference.

As for Sheriff, they sit top of the group following a dominant 3-0 win over Omonia last week in their opening game of the competition.

Here’s everything you need to know about United’s opponents ahead of their group-stage clash on Thursday…

Start to the season

The Wasps have started their campaign in fine form and are undefeated in their opening seven league games, winning five and drawing twice.

Stjepan Tomas’ team sit top of the Moldavian first tier and began the season with a 1-1 draw with Zimbru.

They picked up their first victory in the league against Sfîntul Gheorghe, beating them 3-1 away from home, this was followed by two more wins against Dinamo-Auto and Balti.

Another draw followed for Sheriff, who came back from a goal down against Petrocub to finish 1-1, but they managed a 2-0 win over Dacia Buiucani five days later.

They come into the game on Thursday on the back of a 2-0 home win against Milsami on Sunday.

European journey so far

The Wasps’ European journey began before their league campaign with a Champions League first qualifying round two-legged fixture against Bosnian side Zrinjski Mostar.

They progressed to the next stage of the qualifying round after beating Zrinjski 1-0 over both legs, then won by the same aggregate score over Maribor in the second qualifying round.

However, their chance of Champions League football came to an end after losing 4-2 over two legs in the third qualifying round to Viktoria Plzen, dropping them to the Europa League play-offs.

Sheriff were eventual winners of their Europa League play-off game against Pyunik, beating them 3-2 on penalties after the score was 0-0 over both legs.

Last season

The Wasps won their seventh consecutive league title last campaign after winning 22 of their 28 games, drawing four and losing just twice.

They were the league’s highest scorers with 75 goals in the 2021-22 season, while only conceding eight times - 12 less than the second-best defence in the competition.

Sheriff also won the Moldovan Cup last campaign, their 11th victory in the competition, but were runners-up in the Super Cup, losing 4-2 on penalties to Sfintul Gheorghe.

In Europe, the Wasps finished third in their Champions League group and famously beat eventual winners Real Madrid 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Their third-place place in the group stage meant they dropped down to the Europa League knockout play-off stage, which they lost 3-2 on penalties against Braga after a 2-2 aggregate score over two legs.

Head-to-head record

Thursday’s clash between United and Sheriff will be the first meeting between both clubs having never played each other before.