CYPRIOT clubs on Friday discovered their potential European opponents after the draws for the Champions League and Europa League third qualifying rounds were held by UEFA.
Anorthosis and APOEL are fresh from their Europa second qualifying round first leg wins – 3-1 over Estonia’s Levadia and 2-0 over Slovakian side Senica respectively.
If they progress, Anorthosis will face either Arhus of Denmark or Georgian side Dila Gori in the next round.
APOEL will take on Albanian side KF Tirana or Aalesunds FK of Norway, while Cypriot cup winners Omonia await the winner of the match-up between Belarus’ Naftan Novopolotsk and Crvena Zvezda Belgrade of Serbia.
Cyprus champions AEL also discovered their next Champions League opponents. Providing they safely protect their 3-0 first leg advantage over Northern Ireland’s Linfield, they will probably take on Serbian giants Partizan Belgrade, who dominated Maltese champions Valetta 4-1 away from home in their first leg encounter.
Speaking after his side’s first leg Europa League win on Wednesday, Anorthosis manager Ronny Levin said: “The result should be enough for us to advance, but in football as in life, nothing is certain.
“We want to finish the job on the pitch and then we can say that it is over. This is a good result for us.”
APOEL coach Ivan Jovanovic meanwhile was pleased with his players’ efforts on their first outing this season: “This was our first official game of the season and I have to say that I was delighted with our fans and their support.
“We felt a bit of pressure at the beginning of the game as we obviously made some changes to our squad during the summer. We respected our opponents and I believe that we had the match under control, eventually winning it 2-0 which should be enough to progress.”
“This was a great experience for us. APOEL are a very good side and they showed that tonight on the pitch,” said Senica manager Zdenk Psotka at the post-match press conference.
“We saw two completely different halves and paradoxically in the first 45 minutes when we kept pace with our rivals, we conceded twice. APOEL were clearly the better team in the second half as they created many goal-scoring opportunities. We have to thank our goalkeeper Svenger for keeping us in the game,” he added.
Third qualifying round matches of the Champions League will be played on 31 July/1 August and 7/8 August. The losing sides go into the Europa League play-offs, while the winners will compete for a place in the Champions League group stage.
Europa League third qualifying round first leg fixtures:
FK Renova or FC Gomel vs Liverpool
Dundee United vs Dynamo Moscow
St Johnstone or Eskisehirspor vs Marseille
Athletic Bilbao vs Slaven Koprivnica or Portadown
FC Steaua Bucharest vs Sligo Rovers or FC Spartak Trnava
Champions League third qualifying round first leg fixtures:
RSC Anderlecht v Shamrock Rovers /FK Ekranas
FK Buducnost Podgorica/WKS Slask Wroclaw v The New Saints /Helsingsborgs IF
Celtic v HJK Helsinki/KR Reykjavík
AEL Limassol/ Linfield v Valletta FC/FK Partizan
Motherwell v Panathinaikos
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