THIS IS JUST THE START
After masterminding 2012 win over Barcelona Sheriff’s Real stunner is no surprise to Lennon
PLANET football may have been rocked to its foundations by the seismic shock of Sheriff Tiraspol’s win at Real Madrid but not Neil Lennon.
The former Celtic boss believes the biggest Champions League upset in more than a decade was the reward of patience, long-term planning and a belief that cash isn’t God and David can beat Goliath.
As the 13-time champions were being beaten by the Moldovans inside the Bernabeu, the number crunchers were rating it as the biggest upset since the launch of the Euro Club Index which ranks all football clubs in Europe’s top divisions.
Until Tuesday, it was Celtic’s famous victory over Real Madrid’s bitter rivals Barcelona in 2012 that topped the list of upsets.
Lennon was the architect of that colossal win against Lionel Messi and company and he’s adamant 30/1 outsiders Sheriff may be an unfashionable name but only a fool would have them down as Champions League fodder.
He said: “Sheriff had already shown their teeth in the group by beating Shakhtar Donetsk in their opening group game. They are a team which has been building and building for a long time.
“The fact they beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu was a massive surprise but the fact they are in the Champions League groups stage isn’t.
“They may be a bit of an unknown to some people but they are a club which is always there or thereabouts when it comes to qualification games.
“They have a bit of European pedigree in the Europa League but the result against Real Madrid is absolutely stratospheric for them, they were absolutely brilliant.
“They obviously have a good team, they have gained six points from their two group games so far and they face Inter Milan next.
“Given the way Sheriff are playing, there’s no reason not to believe they won’t take something from that game as well. They have given themselves a hell of a chance to get out of the group now.”
Lennon’s class of 2012 had a 7.1 per cent chance of victory against
Sheriff given have a themselves hell of chance get out to of the group now NEIL LENNON DREAM ON OF MOLDOVANS’ REACHING LAST 16 THE
Barca at Parkhead but secured a 2-1 win despite having just 11 per cent possession on one of the greatest nights in the club’s illustrious history.
As the Northern Irishman assesses the success of a Sheriff side who are debutants in European football’s premier competition, he believes the building work has been in place for over a decade.
He said: “This is a work in progress for a club like Sheriff, they have been building for the last 10 to 12 years and have been champions for something like 20 out of the past 22 seasons.
“I know there will be some people who will want to poo-poo that achievement but they have also recruited players from outside of Moldova. They are similar to some other eastern European teams who have players recruited from nations such as Brazil.
“They deserve credit for being able to source these players and convincing them to come to Moldova and play.
“Results such as the one on Tuesday is the result of a lot of hard work and that has been a work in progress for a long time.”
The Euro Index rankings have Real in third spot with only Bayern Munich and Man City rated higher – while Sheriff, who were 175th, have jumped 20 spots.
Scottish football’s history is littered with evenings when
budgets went out of the window and giants were slain by the likes of Aberdeen and Dundee United as well as huge scalps claimed by the Old Firm.
“Maybe we’re not ready. Are we ready for PSG? Are we ready for Chelsea and Man City to come to Ibrox? Maybe not.”
The words of Steven Gerrard as he reflected on the disappointment of Rangers missing out on the group stage of the Champions League following their qualifying defeat to Malmo.
But Lennon is adamant there should be no glass ceiling for our clubs in Europe and confidently predicted it won’t be long before our clubs are doing a Sheriff. But he urged caution about using the Moldovans as an example to follow.
He said: “Of course you can match up against clubs who have a far larger budget. We’ve proved that and we will prove it again. It will come again for Scottish clubs, there’s no doubt about that.
“It’s only a matter of being patient and building again. There’s no point in saying we should be looking at what Sheriff are doing as we have been there and done that. It’s about building again.
“That means starting to qualify for the Champions League group stage and make more of a fist of it. Sheriff are a smaller club but they have been patient and they are now getting their rewards for that.”