APOEL take on the visitors Petrocub in the first leg quarterfinals of UEFA Champions League qualification. The match will be played on Tuesday, July 23rd at Neo GSP Stadium (Nicosia).
APOEL regain its familiar status. The Legend is remembered by many for its remarkable run in the 2011/2012 Champions League, where not only did they pass all the qualifying rounds, but they also won a group featuring Shakhtar, Zenit, and Porto. Furthermore, they overcame Lyon before finally falling to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals. While they haven’t been able to replicate such success since, they have had some notable achievements. Meanwhile, the club was pushed into the background domestically, not winning the championship since 2019. As it turned out, the hiatus lasted exactly 5 years: in 2024, they were once again crowned champions of Cyprus. Now, after a series of not-so-great friendly matches and lacking full match practice, they have to face an opponent riding high on momentum.
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Petrocub will surely mark 2024 as a historic year. Yes, they had already won the 2020 cup, but they repeated this success in the spring and, sensationally, outpaced even Sheriff to become the champions of Moldova. They also added another achievement to this year’s list. Last season, they lost decisively in the Conference League qualifiers to Maccabi Tel Aviv, but this time they managed to progress past their opponent in their debut Champions League campaign. However, it should be noted that their opponents, Ordabasy, were also relatively modest and inexperienced in such matches. After a goalless draw in Kazakhstan, they secured victory in Chișinău with a lone goal from Lungu in the 34th minute, which was enough to advance to the next round – a significant breakthrough for the club from Hîncești.
This Moldovan club has never visited Nicosia before. There is a lot of skepticism towards the visitors from Moldova, and this can be capitalized on. We predict that they will be able to win in Cyprus against an opponent lacking official match practice, with a "+1 goal" handicap.
Prediction for the match: Petrocub to win with +1.0 handicap.
