APOEL Nicosia have left themselves with a mountain to climb when they reconvene with Slovan Bratislava at the GSP stadium on Tuesday evening in Champions League qualifying.
David Gallego’s side suffered a damaging 2-0 defeat in Slovakia last midweek, with the hosts striking twice in the final 20 minutes to take command of the tie.
As such, the Cypriots face an extremely tall order if they are to make progress to the playoff round and maintain their dream of reaching the lucrative league phase of the competition.
The Nicosia club have yet to kick off their domestic title defence so they should be fresh in and raring to go ahead of Tuesday’s return leg.
Slovan Bratislava, were also afforded the weekend off by the Slovakian FA ahead of Tuesday's crunch second leg in Cyprus.
Vladimir Weiss’ side have already played two Slovak Super Liga matches this season so far, collecting maximum points from both of those contests.
How the bookies view it: Not all over for Apoel
Apoel Nicosia are 21/20 favourites on Bet 365 to win inside 90 minutes, though are as big as 4/1 with the same firm to progress to the play-off round.
A draw would suit Slovan Bratislava and that outcome has been priced up at 23/10 (Bet 365) while the Sky Blues are 5/2 (Bet 365) to overcome Apoel for the second time in the space of seven days.
Head to head: Duo set for just fourth ever meeting
The two teams came up against each other during Champions League qualification way back in 2011-12, with Apoel Nicosia triumphing by an aggregate score of 2-0. Following last week’s 2-0 setback in Slovakia, the hosts will have to win here by at least two goals to avoid elimination.
Players to watch: Mak to make his mark again?
Róbert Mak scored Slovan Bratislava’s all-important second goas last week and the veteran forward will be amongst the bookmakers' favourites to make his mark again this midweek.
Apoel winger Marquinhos scored in both legs against Petroclub in the previous round so he could be worth considering for an anytime strike on Tuesday evening.
Predicted line-ups
Apoel Nicosia boss David Gallego is expected to make some changes to his starting XI following last week’s 2-0 defeat in the Slovakian capital.
Slovan Bratislava manager Vladimir Weiss is expected to stick with the same side that secured a two goal advantage last midweek.
Apoel Nicosia: Belec; Susic, Petrovic, Dvali, Quintilla; Marquinhos, Ndongala, Tejera, Kostadinov, Sarfo; Drazic
Slovan Bratislava: Takac; Bajric, Kashia, Wimmer; Blackman, Kucka, Savvidis, Zuberu; Mak, Strelec, Weiss
Anything else catch the eye?
Given that the hosts will have to go for broke here, backing both teams to score stands out at 5/6 on Bet 365.
Apoel rarely fail to score in front of their own supporters, however being forced to throw caution to the wind could leave them vulnerable to Slovan counter-attacks
Once priced up, Apoel corners could also be worth considering given their greater need for goals on Tuesday evening.
This UEFA Champions League match between Apoel Nicosia and Slovan Bratislava will be played on Aug 13, 2024 and kick off at 18:00. Check below for our tipsters best Apoel Nicosia vs Slovan Bratislava prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
