APOEL welcomes Ajax

APOEL welcomes Ajax in a first leg from the Champions League playoff between these two sides. We are going to spend some minutes to take a look at this fixture in our Champions League predictions for today.

APOEL had a tough tie against Qarabag in the previous round of the qualifiers, but they showed high spirit and managed to eliminate their opponent. The Cypriots were in a very bad situation after the first leg at home, which they lost with 1-2. This made Qarabag a huge favourite for the tie, but it was too early for them to celebrate.

APOEL managed to show a completely different face in the second leg which they won with 2-0 in Baku. The odds were against them, but Thomas Doll’s boys showed everyone that they deserve to qualify for the playoffs.

The Argentine attacking midfielder Tomas De Vincenti opened the score for the visitors from a penalty kick in the first half. The decisive second goal for APOEL was scored in the middle of the second half, when Uro Matic put the ball again in Vagner’s net and sent his team to the playoffs. Until the end of the game Qarabag tried to score a vital first goal, but the visitors defended well and didn’t allow this to happen.

After reaching the 1/2-finals last season, Ajax are eager to enjoy another successful campaign in the tournament. But they will have to do it without the two stars Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong, who were sold. The good news is that Erik ten Hag remained the club’s manager, so he could continue working on his project in Amsterdam.

In the previous round of the Champions League qualifiers Ajax had a tough tie against the Greek champion PAOK, but they emerged as winners. After 2-2 draw in the first leg on Greek soil, Ajax enjoyed a difficult 3-2 win at home and progressed. Dusan Tadic scored two penalties for the Dutch giants, while Nicolas Tagliafico added one more for Ajax.

That’s our Champions League predictions for today the playoff tie between APOEL and Ajax. We wish you good luck.