Nicosia: APOEL Nicosia will again try to defy expectations and overturn a 1-0 deficit against Lyon in the second leg of their Champions League matchup on Wednesday to continue its historic Champions League run.
APOEL has already become the first Cypriot team to reach the round of 16 of the tournament and will rely on its home-field advantage to go even farther. The team has only lost once in 10 European matches at Nicosia's GSP stadium, and earned group-stage wins over Shakhtar Donetsk and Porto there.
"90 minutes away from eternity," Cypriot sports daily Goal News said on its front page on Tuesday.
The small club is still considered the underdog against a much more experienced Lyon, which is playing in the last 16 for the ninth straight season.
But APOEL's players know that an upset on Wednesday will make history for the club and earn them a career highlight.
"Everybody's expecting this moment, the most important in the life I believe of this club and a very important day of us as players, as a team," APOEL's Brazilian midfielder Gustavo Manduca said. "We must score, we must win. We'll take the risk and we try to do our best to continue in this fantastic competition."
A 4-1 win over lowly Ermis over the weekend kept APOEL close to Cypriot league leaders AEL and Omonia. It also helped quell fan ire over a string of poor performances — including being eliminated from the League Cup competition — that some viewed as a consequence of the team focusing on its Champions League campaign.
While Portuguese midfielder Helio Pinto is suspended, APOEL coach Ivan Jovanovic has the rest of his squad at his disposal.
APOEL owes much of its success in the tournament to its disciplined defense, but will have to go on the attack more in this game in search of a goal. Jovanovic will count on forwards Estaban Solari, Ivan Trickovski and star Ailton Almeida to exploit the defensive weaknesses of struggling Lyon which has lost three and drawn two in its last five French league matches.
Lyon's 2-0 loss to relegation-threatened Nancy on Saturday dropped the team to seventh place in the standings and drew an angry response from club president Jean-Michel Aulas.
"They're nice guys, but that's not enough. They shouldn't pass up the opportunities that they have," Aulas said. "They're talented, they have money, glory and looks, but they have to increase their commitment. What's missing is for them to be at their best more often, and on the same day."
But APOEL's push to score could create openings that Lyon's speedy forwards can exploit on the counterattack.
"The second leg in Nicosia will be very tough," Lyon fullback Aly Cissokho said. "But they will have to attack so that should give a quite open match."
Lyon midfielder Kim Kallstrom said: "Tiny details will decide the second leg, but we know that we're able to get a good result over there."
Lyon has been boosted by the return of central defender Dejan Lovren, who has shaken off an Achilles injury. But it will be without playmaker Yoann Gourcuff, who is still nursing a groin injury, as well as defender John Mensah who is out with a hamstring injury.
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