In the words of an official commentator, it looks like "midnight has struck for the Cinderella team". APOEL is almost surely out of the Champions League, after losing 0-3 at home against Real Madrid.
They should have defended, the Cypriots, not gone after the Spanish giants! That was a huge mistake, because it opened their defense.
And Real's endurance levels were much higher.
Benzema with a brace (74, 90) and Kaka (82), after some brilliant play by Marcelo at the end line, put the Madrid team way ahead.
Real left it late, but finished the job.
Highlights:
Showing posts with label APOEL Nicosia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label APOEL Nicosia. Show all posts
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Yes! APOEL!
I think justice has been done.
Lyon deserved to be out of the Champions League, and nothing could convince me that they won 7-1 in Zagreb deservingly.
And, luckily, APOEL took them out in the very next phase.
The Cypriot team played much better than in the first leg, but they could only keep the scoreline at 1-0, thanks to a Manduca goal in minute 9. He had slotted the ball in the empty net after a great pass from Charalambidis.
The only time Lyon played a little bit better than the Nicosia team was in the first half of extra time.
On penalties, the minnows held their nerves admirably. Lyon, on the other hand, missed their last two, which made APOEL's last spot kick unnecessary.
APOEL had never been in a penalty shootout before, in a European competition.
But now they can add Olympique Lyonnais to their impressive list of higher-ranked defeated opponents: Wisla Krakow, Zenit (the only one of these teams not actually eliminated by APOEL), Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk (and maybe even Slovan Bratislava), and getting the decisive edge on penalty kicks certainly does not diminish the merit of the team from Cyprus' capital..
See highlights here.
Highlights:
APOEL 1-0 Olympique Lyon (4 - 3) by Futbol2101
Lyon deserved to be out of the Champions League, and nothing could convince me that they won 7-1 in Zagreb deservingly.
And, luckily, APOEL took them out in the very next phase.
The Cypriot team played much better than in the first leg, but they could only keep the scoreline at 1-0, thanks to a Manduca goal in minute 9. He had slotted the ball in the empty net after a great pass from Charalambidis.
The only time Lyon played a little bit better than the Nicosia team was in the first half of extra time.
On penalties, the minnows held their nerves admirably. Lyon, on the other hand, missed their last two, which made APOEL's last spot kick unnecessary.
APOEL had never been in a penalty shootout before, in a European competition.
But now they can add Olympique Lyonnais to their impressive list of higher-ranked defeated opponents: Wisla Krakow, Zenit (the only one of these teams not actually eliminated by APOEL), Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk (and maybe even Slovan Bratislava), and getting the decisive edge on penalty kicks certainly does not diminish the merit of the team from Cyprus' capital..
See highlights here.
Highlights:
APOEL 1-0 Olympique Lyon (4 - 3) by Futbol2101
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Lucky Lyon
After probably striking a deal with Dinamo Zagreb at half-time, I would think, considering how that match was progressing at that point and how it eventually concluded, the team from Lyon was also lucky to get the weakest Champions League group winner in the draw for the second round. (Where's the fairness?)
But it wasn't as easy as Lyon may have expected.
Overall, the home win was probably deserved, but I hope APOEL is going to perform much better in Nicosia.
Alexandre Lacazette scored the winning goal, in minute 58.
But it wasn't as easy as Lyon may have expected.
Overall, the home win was probably deserved, but I hope APOEL is going to perform much better in Nicosia.
Alexandre Lacazette scored the winning goal, in minute 58.
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