Champions League road for Sheriff starts afresh in Bosnia

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — The long road for Sheriff Tiraspol back to the Champions League group stage will start in Bosnia-Herzegovina next month. The first qualifying round was drawn Tuesday and paired Sheriff with Zrinjski. In its debut campaign last September, Sheriff beat eventual title winner Real Madrid 2-1 in Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Now the champion of Moldova must again beat four opponents to join the 32-team elite. The first qualifying round is played from July 6 to 13. In other pairings it was Tobol vs. Ferencváros and Lech Poznań vs. Qarabağ.