For fans of the APOEL club from Nicosia, Serbian coach Ivan Jovanovic , who had long ago received a Greek passport, became a hero. Having snatched victory from Wisła Krakow in a dramatic match, the Cypriots received a ticket to the Champions League.

Having achieved European recognition, the capital's club finally started in the championship of their country. Yovanovic, unlike Kurban Berdyev, does not have to complain about the busy calendar. After the European Cup confrontation with the Poles, the team from Nicosia had the necessary time to rest. And her opponent, AEK Larnaca, played in the Europa League and also won a ticket to the group tournament.

The victims of this Cypriot team in the second highest club tournament were the Czech Mlada Boleslav and the Norwegian Rosenborg. In a word, Cypriot club football is now on the rise, to which Cypriot football players, however, have practically nothing to do. The Larnaca team, coached by Dutchman Tom Kaanen, is dominated by his compatriots and Spaniards, with Jovanovic relying on Brazilians and Portuguese.

APOEL's starting line-up for the match against AEK included four Brazilians and three Portuguese.

Another foreign player, Ivan Trichkovski , is well known to Russian fans from his performances for the Macedonian national team. The Greek Dionysios Histis took his place in goal. Another Hellas representative, Christos Kontis , played in defense. Simple calculations show that only one Cypriot started at the base of the Cypriot club, defender Savas Poursaitidis.

No one in Cyprus is going to introduce a limit on foreign players or include a clause on a home-grown football player in the regulations. Local fans are happy that Brazilian-Portuguese-Greek APOEL are representing the island of Aphrodite in the Champions League.

In the away match against a strong, by Cypriot standards, opponent, APOEL used the “4-5-1” formation.

The Brazilian Almeida was put forward at the forefront of the attack, supported at the second pace by his compatriots Manduca and Marcinho, as well as the Macedonian Trichkovski. The support zone was covered by the Portuguese Morais and Pinto.

As expected, AEK went on the attack with the starting whistle. The guests from Nicosia successfully repulsed the first assault and began to look for chances at the opponent's goal. In the first half, the most dangerous was a powerful “shot” from 30 meters performed by Trichkovski. The hosts' goalkeeper managed to parry it.

In APOEL's defense, the Brazilian Boaventura stood out, cementing the actions of his partners. The hosts' attacks were quite dangerous, and the players from Nicosia were forced to resort to minor foul tactics. The referee showed Zenit's future opponents four yellow cards. How are they going to keep Danny and Kerzhakov?

In the second half, Jovanovic, trying to sharpen the game, made three changes in the midfield line. Of the reservists who appeared on the field, the most active was the Argentinean Esteban Solari, who diluted the Portuguese-speaking part of the team.

The game was quite lively, but the spectators in Larnaca did not see any goals scored. After the first round, both Cypriot participants in the European Cup took neighboring places in the middle of the table with zeros in the “goals scored and goals conceded” column.

Dublin's Shamrock Rovers created a real sensation in the Europa League playoff round, knocking out local Partizan from the tournament in Belgrade. In the national championship, Martin O'Neill's team is now in second position. Naturally, in the cup match with another Dublin club, UCD, Rubin's future opponent was considered the favorite.

Irish Cup. Round 4 Goals: Sheppard 61; Kilduff, 70 - Belhout, 74; Creevy 81 Shamrock Rovers: Thompson, Sullivan, Memory, Sives, Flynn, Rice, O'Donnell, McCabe (Finn 56), O'Neill, Kilduff, Sheppard (Murray 85) UKD: Barron, Harding, Ledwhite, O 'Connor, Leahy, Corrie (Belhout 70), O'Conor, Creevy, Meenan, Benson (Marshall 55), Rask Booked: Ledwhite 57; Kilduff 64 - Harding 60 Sent off: Flynn 80 Dublin. Talla Stadium

In the last league match, the derby ended in Rovers' favor. And even with a tennis score of 6:1. It’s not for nothing that they say that cup matches are special. In the first half of the derby, the score was never opened. It wasn't until midway through the second that Rovers turned their advantage into goals scored by Karl Sheppard and Claran Kilduff.

The score 2:0 by the 70th minute made the Greens' chances of progressing to the next round quite tangible, but first Samir Belkhout reduced the gap in the score, and then Robbie Creevy equalized it. In between those goals, Rovers had Patrick Flynn sent off.

In accordance with the traditions that are revered in Ireland, as in the homeland of football, the winner of this pair will be determined in a replay. This plays into Rubin’s hands: the opponent will play an extra game.

News, match results, positions of teams in groups and players in the list of scorers, as well as much more about the most prestigious club football tournament can be found on the Champions League page .

All forces went to the Vistula - Gazeta.Ru