APOEL Nicosia vs Copenhagen
Champions League Play-off.
Date: Wednesday, 24 August 2016,
Kick-Off: 19:45 UK,
Venue: GSP Stadium (Nicosia).
APOEL look to overturn a one-goal deficit when they host FC
Copenhagen for the second leg of the Champions League play-off on
Wednesday evening.
Andrija Pavlovic scored the all important goal for FC Copenhagen in
the closing stages of the first half to give his side slender advantage
going into the decider in Cyprus. The Danish side would have loved to
win the first leg clash at their home ground by a bigger margin because
Neo GSP is not a ground for visiting sides to come out with a clean
sheet. Moreover, APOEL haven’t won their previous two away two matches
in the qualifiers. They came this far by strong results at their home
ground.
APOEL Nicosia lost 2-1 to Norwegian side Rosenborg in the first leg
of third round of qualifiers, but overturned the deficit with a 3-0 win
at home. They also drawn 0-0 against The New Saints in the second round,
and won 3-0 at home.
Copenhagen are unbeaten in this year’s Champions League qualifiers
which started from the second round. They have scored a massive 14 goals
and conceded just once. They won in 4 matches while drawn 1-1 in the
away fixture at Astana.
APOEL Nicosia vs Copenhagen: Head-to-Head Stats
APOEL Nicosia defeated FC Copenhagen in the play-offs of 2009/10 UEFA
Champions League under very similar circumstances. The Danes came with
1-0 lead from the first leg to Nicosia only to lose 3-1 in a thrilling
encounter.
However, APOEL’s overall record against Danish oppositions on 9
occasions is 3 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses. And their record at home from 4
matches is 2 wins and 2 losses.
While Copenhagen haven’t met any other Cypriot oppositions in a UEFA competition.
APOEL Nicosia vs Copenhagen: Prediction
APOEL won their last two qualifiers at home by a 3-0 margin and they
needed a win to progress on each occasion. While Copenhagen lost on
aggregate on the previous occasion when they were drawn against APOEL in
the Champions League qualifiers. But this time, the Danish Champions
are a different proposition all together. They were extremely
disciplined in the home leg and their defense proved too strong for the
Cypriots to break down. And coming here to defend a slender lead, they
will adopt a similar approach.
APOEL needing a win is likely to push more players into the attack
which could give the opposition a chance to hit on the counter. The
hosts might win this, but they could fell short on qualification. Both
teams have a strong attack and there is a good chance for both teams to
get on the score-sheet here. I will also go by a 2-1 win in favour of
APOEL, which eventually result in Copenhagen to get to the Champions
League group stages.
