Sheriff – BATE

The visitors are not so inferior to their opponents in class that they lose by two or more goals

The dominance of FC Sheriff in Moldovan football remains a constant factor. The undisputed national champion has won both the National Division (before the reorganisation of national football) and the Super League, with only a little competition from Petrocub. Sheriff started the current European competitions in the Champions League qualification with a rather tough confrontation with Farul. The Romanian club managed to defeat the Moldovan champions on their home ground, scoring the only goal of the match on 56 minutes. A week later in Tiraspol, Sheriff won with a similar scoreline, having decided the winner of the duel in extra time. There the experience of the Moldovan team played a decisive role, expressed in two goals of the hosts - 3:0. Sheriff started the second round of qualification with a 1-0 win at home and a similar defeat to Maccabi Haifa away. However, this time the extra halves brought dominance to the rival Moldovan team. Last Sunday, Sheriff rehabilitated themselves in front of their fans with a 1-0 victory over Petrocube at the national arena, so they are in a good mood for the Europa League meeting. The Belarusian club started the Europa League with a clash against Albanian Partizani. Considering that BATE is deprived of the opportunity to play not only in their arena, but also on the territory of Belarus, the team played very honourably. In the first match in Albania the rivals parted in peace with the score 1:1, and in the return meeting on Hungarian soil BATE managed to hit the opponent's goal twice, without conceding a single goal. It seemed that such a start to the Champions League qualification would add confidence to the Borisov players, but in the second round they suffered a crushing defeat. Both meetings with Aris, the Belarusian representative lost with a hockey score - 2:6 and 3:5. There can be no doubts about the fairness of the departure of the Belarusian team. Sheriff in none of the European Cup matches of the current season was not convincing enough to bet on its victory over BATE with a difference of two or more goals. Despite the failure in defence against Aris, the guests of the upcoming meeting are not much inferior in class to the upcoming opponent.