SHERIFF TIRASPOL boss Yuriy Vernydub has hit back at critic Dirk Kuyt after their shock win over Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Former Liverpool striker Kuyt said the Moldovan top-flight champs had "nothing to do" in Europe's top club competition before a draw which put them in Group D alongside Real, Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Sheriff boss was keen to fire back a response in the wake of Tuesday's 2-1 win over the 13-time winners at the Bernabeu.

Vernydub told the Guardian: "We are a real team, it is our place and we've proved it.

"It was a great player, Dirk Kuyt, who said there is no place in the Champions League for Sheriff.

"So I’m very happy to destroy his perfect world."

Retired Netherlands international Kuyt made the comments about Sheriff on Dutch TV channel RTL 7 during their qualifying run which saw them play fixtures in Albania, Armenia, Serbia and Croatia.

Kuyt, 41, said: “The Champions League is a competition for champions. However, teams like Sheriff have nothing to do in the Champions League."

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Sheriff are based in Tiraspol, the capital of Transnistria, a breakaway state on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border.

They are in the Champions League for the first time in their 24-year history by virtue of winning the Divizia Nationale.

La Liga heavyweights Real had 31 shots on goal and 11 on target while Sheriff had only four attempts, scoring two of their three shots on target.

Vernydub, whose side lead Group D after a 2-0 opening day win against Shakhtar Donetsk, called the midweek result a "miracle", while Real boss Carlo Ancelotti added: "Everything we did turned out badly."

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