Champions League
2024-07-23 - APOEL vs Petrocub
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Champions League Second Qualifying Round First Leg
Tuesday 23rd July 2024 - Kick Off 6pm
Preview
You may not consider Cyprus as being a powerhouse of European Football, but Champions APOEL have made an impact at the highest stages in relatively recent years. Matching the 2012 run to the Champions League Quarter Final is very unlikely, but APOEL have found a way to earn passage into the Group Stage as recently as 2018 and that despite having to negotiate early Qualifiers.
After the draw for the Third Qualifying Round, APOEL will certainly feel there is a passage into the final Qualifiers before the Group Stage. That has to be the aim for the club, although APOEL will need to deal with the pressure of expectation.
APOEL had been a dominant domestic Champion until the end of the 2019 season, but it has been different since the Covid cancelled season in 2020. They are now the fourth different Champion in four years and APOEL are also an experienced European team that has found a way to win a number of early Qualifiers.
Home form in those Qualifiers has been key and APOEl had won 5 in a row in front of their own fans before losing to Gent in a Play Off Qualifier last season. That was in the Europa Conference League, while APOEL had won 5 home Champions League Qualifiers before losing to Qarabag and drawing with Ajax in 2019.
Some of those names are amongst the well-known throughout Europe when it comes to playing the Qualifiers or much deeper in the Champions League, but APOEL are not facing that kind of opponent in this Second Qualifying Round.
The Moldovan Champions for the first time, Petrocub Hincesti will not have nearly the same experiences as some of the other clubs in the Champions League Qualifiers. New investment may mean this is a club on the up domestically, but Petrocub only narrowly got the better of Kazakhstan Champions Ordabasy in the First Qualifying Round.
Petrocub's first season in European Football was as recently as 2018/19 and they have not had a lot of success at this level, which is not going to be a massive surprise. A couple of seasons ago they were able to win back to back Qualifiers for the first time, so there has to be some respect for their capabilities, but Petrocub have failed to score in 5 of their last 6 away European games played, including in the First Qualifying Round.
Prior to the draw at Ordabasy, Petrocub had been thumped in back to back away Qualifiers against Fehervar and Maccabi Tel Aviv, while the one previous visit to Cyprus for a competitive fixture ended in a 1-0 defeat at AEK Larnaca back in 2019.
Prediction
You have to believe the sole focus for the Moldovan Champions is to still be in this Second Qualifying Round tie when the Second Leg is hosted by Petrocub next week.
Containing an experienced APOEL looks challenging though and the money has been coming in to back the Cypriot Champions.
APOEL have found a way to win a number of Qualifiers at this stage of the season in recent years and they should have too much for this opponent. Backing them to win and cover this Asian Handicap line should produce a push at the very least, but APOEL may feel the conditions are ripe to wear down this inexperienced European opponent.
The Pick :
APOEL 2-0 Petrocub
