APOEL 2011/12, Europe's Little Giants

APOEL 2011/12, Europe's Little Giants

By Stephen Kountourou

When you think of the giants of the game, you think of Liverpool, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and both Milan clubs. All of these sides are considered giants due to their domestic and European successes. But the definition of a big club can be blurred when talking about sides who have domestic dominance, but fall short with European trophies. One perfect example of a giant in their domestic game but a true underdog compared to Europe's elite, is APOEL. 

With 63 trophies in their 95 year existence including 28 league titles, 21 Cypriot Cups and 14 Super Cups, they have pulled away from the pursuing pack to become the most successful side on the Island of Cyprus. But despite their coveted history, the side from the capital, Nicosia, has almost never come close to progressing through a European tournament. All except for one season. In this blog we will take a look at a side, whose squad worth was less than one million Euros and the lowest in the competition, with a tactically astute manager and a multicultural squad, went on an unthinkable run to the Champions League quarter finals. 

After reclaiming the title the previous season from rivals Omonia, APOEL as champions of Cyprus, qualified for the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. As is the case for Cyprus football, many changes were made to the squad with a total of 11 players leaving the club and 7 new faces arriving with the overall spend of the club being a mere 340,000 Euros, and the vast majority of incoming players coming on a free transfer all on short term deals lasting no longer then 1-2 years at most. Under long term Serbian manager Ivan Jovanovic, famed for helping the Cypriot side play a fast, attacking style of football, APOEL began their European campaign before their domestic season had even begun, in the summer of 2011. 

Being drawn as one of the top seeds in the early qualifying stages, APOEL quickly defeated their first opponent, Albanian side KF Skënderbeu Korçë 6-0 over two legs on aggregate. A slightly less straightforward tie against Slovakian side ŠK Slovan Bratislava followed, after drawing the first leg in Nicosia, the pressure was on for Thrylos to defeat their opponents in the away leg. Thankfully for supporters of the Cypriot Champions, they were able to get the job done in Slovakia, winning the match and the tie 2-0 on aggregate, putting APOEL into the playoffs and within two games of their second Champions League group stage in 3 years. 

With the playoffs came the sides greatest challenge yet. Despite the side expected to beat Polish side Wisła Kraków, they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat away, with their European dreams hanging in the balance. It all came down to the second leg showdown in the GSP Stadium, and APOEL did not disappoint. After an own goal from the away side, and an early second from Striker Aílton, APOEL were firmly in control of the game and the tie and were on the verge of going through. Krakow player Wilk had other ideas, scoring 20 minutes from time swung the tie, with the polish side now going through on away goals. APOEL continued to pressure but to no avail and by the last five minutes of normal time it looked as though the Cypriot champions would be falling into the Europa League group stage. In the 86th minute, Aílton came up with another huge goal, sending fans in GSP Stadium into hysterics. At full time APOEL players and fans celebrated as they had qualified for the Champions League, a long hard summer of qualifiers had paid off for Thrylos. With that being said, this was only beginning for the Nicosia side.   

With the domestic season already underway and their Champions League group drawn, APOEL began their European adventure. The Cypriot side were drawn in a very tough group with Zenit Saint Petersburg, Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk their opponents. With the sides of a vastly superior pedigree, and with their previous European campaign ending with Thrylos bottom of their group, not much was expected of this APOEL side. It must also be mentioned that APOEL's squad worth was far smaller than almost all of the teams competing in the Champions League that season, with Transfermarkt valuing the squad at a mere 800,000 Euros. Tiny when compared to the wages of players at elite football clubs let alone the overall worth of other squads. In their opening group stage game however, APOEL would shock their Russian opponents, defeating Zenit 2-1 at the GSP Stadium. 

 

After their first three games, the second two of which were draws against Shakhtar and Porto, both away from home, APOEL were holding their own in Group G with 5 points. An impressive start for the Cypriot champions. A reverse fixture 2-1 victory against Porto on match day 4, propelled them to eight points, with progression to the knockout stages suddenly seeming a reality. After a 0-0 draw with Zenit away in St Petersburg, they had assured themselves top two in the group and a place in the round of 16. The first time a Cypriot team had progressed out of the Champions League group stage. Despite losing to bottom side Shakhtar 0-2 in Nicosia on match day 6, and with Zenit and Porto drawing 0-0, APOEL finished the group stage, top of the table with a better head to head record against their Russian opponents, even though both finishing with 9 points. 

With the focus now fully on Europe, APOEL let their domestic and cup duties slip somewhat. By new year the champions were languishing in 4th. In the Cypriot Cup, they were knocked out over two legs in the second round by eventual league champions, AEL Limassol. Under normal circumstances, this would be seen as a sub par and forgettable season for any APOEL fan and the club. But this was no ordinary season for the Nicosia side. What happened next in the Champions league would not only make their below average title defence worth it, but would go down as the greatest moment in the clubs history.

In the round of 16 draw, APOEL were pitted against French giants Lyon, who had come runners up in their group behind Real Madrid, and had narrowly missed out on falling into the Europa League, but bettered Ajax on head to head. With APOEL being the higher seed as they finished top of their group, the first leg was played away from home in Lyon. 

 

Having already achieved incredible things with the APOEL side in the Champions League,  Ivan Jovanovic and his players had to treat every game they played as if it was the final, as they walked out against their opponents in the Stade de Gerland. The first leg however did not go to plan for the underdogs. Despite holding the home side 0-0 at half time, striker Alexandre Lacazette, would open the scoring before the hour mark. With APOEL unable to find an away goal, the match ended 1-0, a mountain to climb for the Cypriot side, but one they could still reach the summit of. 

 

The second leg in the Cyprus capital began. With nearly 23,000 strong in the stadium the atmosphere was electric. APOEL took a surprising 1-0 in the first 10 minutes with Brazilian Winger Gustavo Manduca scoring to put his side 1-1 on aggregate with their more decorated opponents. Even with their wealth of talented players, Lyon could not find an away goal to put the tie to bed. After two halves the sides finished level with extra time beckoning. Even when goal scorer Manduca was sent off for a second yellow deep into extra time, APOEL held on to send the match to penalties. 

Both sides' first three penalty takers were able to find the back of the net, with Lisandro for Lyon extremely lucky as the ball missed the target but bounced back off of APOEL keeper Dionisis Chiotis into the net. Lacazette, the scorer in France, then had his shot saved by the Greek stopper. With Ivan Trichkovski scoring past a young Hugo Lloris, Michel Bastos stepped up to try to keep Lyon in the tie. Bastos ran up, struck the ball, and Chiotis heroically saved his shot and sent APOEL through to the last eight of the Champions League. The first time a Cypriot side had progressed that far in the competition. The players on the pitch and their supporters too, celebrated their club's incredible achievement as if they had won the final. With news broadcasters from all over the world talking about the team from tiny Cyprus who had bested their French opponents, it made the victory all that much sweeter for the APOEL supporters and the rest of the Island. 

 

In the Aftermath of this brilliant run in Europe's biggest football competition, APOEL's fairy tale would unfortunately end there. After being drawn in the quarter finals with Spanish giants Real Madrid, they fought valiantly in both legs, but were overwhelmed by their titanic opponents, losing 0-3 at home and battling to a 5-2 loss and the Bernabeu. With that, APOEL waved goodbye to the Champions League. Even though they have never reached the heights they had achieved in the competition since, fans of Thrylos can always think back to the 2011/12 season with great pride, when APOEL were the little giants that took Europe by storm.

Hellas Football

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