APOEL will take on hosts Maribor in the second leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie tonight needing victory or a high scoring draw to secure their place in the competition playoffs.
Paulo Sergio’s side had squandered numerous chances and had several decent penalty appeals turned down in the first leg in Nicosia which finished 1-1 but the Cypriot champions remain in confident mood heading into tonight’s clash in Maribor.
It wouldn’t be the first time that APOEL have succeeded in qualifying after being held in the first game at home.
In August 2008, APOEL were held to a 2-2 draw in Nicosia against Red Star Belgrade but managed to advance in the return game in Belgrade after Nenad Mirosavljevic struck deep into extra time to hand 10-men APOEL a 3-3 draw.
In the 2011 Champions League qualifying round, APOEL were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Slovan Bratislava but managed to turn the tie in Slovakia after Ailton and Gustavo Manduca struck in the second half. Paulo Sergio is also no stranger to such turnarounds.
During his term as boss of Sporting in 2010, Paulo Sergio found himself staring at a nightmare Europa League exit after his side went down 2-0 at home to Danish side Brondby in their first leg, playoff meeting.
Despite the odds being stacked against the Lisbon club, Paulo Sergio’s side secured a 3-0 victory in Copenhagen.
APOEL will have four players on bookings tonight namely Marcelo Oliveira while Gustavo Manduca, Esmael Goncalves and Mario Budimir were all booked for diving in the first leg in Nicosia.
Summer signing Cillian Sheridan serves his final suspension tonight after getting sent off for CSKA Sofia during his last game in Europe.
APOEL’s last outing in the Champions League back in 2011 saw them make history as they reached the quarterfinals of the competition.
That joy turned to despair at the beginning of last season when they suffered an ignominious exit at the hands of Neftchi Baku in the Europa League playoffs but Ivan Jovanovic’s men bounced back by staging a late challenge to win the league title and return to the Champions League.
APOEL and Maribor are crossing swords for the second time after the two sides met in the 2002-2003 Champions League second qualifying round in what turned out to be a famous victory for the Nicosia club.
Eugene Gerards’ men had gone down 2-1 in the first leg in Slovenia but overturned the deficit with a 4-2 victory at the GSP Stadium with current players Constantinos Charalambides and Marios Elia getting on the scoresheet. Midfielders Marinos Satsias and Nektarios Alexandrou had also featured in the game while goalkeeper Tasos Kissas was an unused substitute
Cyprus Weekly
