AEL’s Europa League debut against Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach ended in a goalless stalemate on Thursday night although the Limassol club were fortunate not to finish empty handed after Oscar Wendt sent an injury time penalty crashing off the crossbar.
The Cypriot title holders are level on points with their rivals in Group C after the game between Turkish side Fenerbahce and Marseille ended in a 2-2 draw.
The Germans started off the better side missing two excellent chances in the opening exchanges through Alexander Ring and Mike Hanke and it took a while for Pambos Christodoulou’s side to find their stride.
Rui Miguel went first with a shot that forced Marc ter Stegen into a desperate save before Tolga Cigerci and substitute Granit Xhaka both saw their efforts denied by the excellent Matias Degra under the AEL goal-posts.
The German visitors thought they had won the game when the referee awarded them a penalty in the seventh minute of injury time – after Rui Miguel was adjudged to have handled Xhaka strike in the area – but Swedish defender Wendt drove his penalty onto the bar.
“I believe a draw was a fair result in the end because both teams had chances to score”, said AEL coach Christodoulou after the game. “We made a dreadful start in the beginning and could have fallen behind but we picked ourselves up as the game went and had a good share of possession. Some of my players started to tire as the final whistle approached and our opponents could have snatched a late win.”
He added, “We still have chances of qualifying in this group. We always said that we would be looking to get three points not just at home but also away.”
AEL will next take on Marseille in France next month before then returning to Cyprus to host Fenerbahce in a game which will see heightened security at the GSP Stadium.

Cyprus Weekly