With today’s 0:0 draw against Zenit, APOEL secured a top two finish in Group G and will advance to the Champions League Round of 16.

Ivan Trickovski started for APOEL and played until the 90th minute when he was replaced by fellow attacker Aldo Adorno.  APOEL played very defensive in the road game against Zenit in Russia and Trickovski spent most of his time tracking back and helping out on defense.  For the majority of the game, APOEL had one lone striker, Ailton Almeida, up front while the other ten players, including Trickovski, were on their own half trying to disrupt the Zenit attack.  However, in the 67th minute, Almeida was substituted for a defensive midfielder so Trickovski then moved into the lone striker role for about 23 minutes when he was also substituted by the APOEL manager.  Ivan had one good chance in the 79th minute but his sliding attempt from a good position following a cross from the right went well over the goal.

As expected, with APOEL’s tactics and formation, Zenit dominated possession and attempted considerably more shots but APOEL was difficult to break down and managed to keep a clean sheet despite some nervy moments.  With the draw, APOEL guaranteed itself a top two finish in Group G so they will advance to the Champions League Round of 16.  There is still one more matchday but the worst case scenario for APOEL is a second place finish which would still be good enough to advance to the knockout stage.  APOEL is the only team in Group G that has yet to lose a game as they have collected two wins and three draws after five matchdays and will have an opportunity to stay undefeated when they host Shakhtar Donetsk on 6 December to close the round.