Omonia and Pafos FC are set to face off on Thursday night in the first ever all-Cypriot match in European competition.
The match, which kicks off at 10pm at Nicosia’s GSP Stadium, is the first leg of the sides’ knockout phase playoff tie in the Uefa Europa Conference League, with the return fixture set to take place at Limassol’s Alphamega Stadium – Pafos FC’s home for European fixtures – next week.
Despite the historic nature of the game, Omonia manager Yannis Anastasiou was keen to play down its significance at the pre-match press conference.
“I feel pretty good. For me, it’s nothing more than a game like the rest. The tournament makes it have more weight. For our preparation, it does not change anything,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pafos FC forward Marios Ilia expressed his pride in seeing two Cypriot sides play each other in Europe for the first time.
“As a footballer, I have to say that it is a very nice feeling to see two Cypriot teams play a European match. I hope we get through. We will give it our all for a victory and to take a step towards qualification,” he said.
The sides have met once so far this season, with a late winner from Omonia’s Montenegrin striker Stevan Jovetic the game’s only goal at Paphos’ Stelios Kyriakides Stadium in December.
On Wednesday, there had been fears over the match’s viability, with the police handing a report to Uefa reporting that 30 of the GSP Stadium’s 112 CCTV cameras are non-functional, with other problems related to the stadium’s security having also been highlighted.
However, with kick-off fast approaching, Uefa confirmed that the game will go ahead.
The winner of the tie will qualify for the round of 16, where they will face one of Swiss side Lugano or Swedish outfit Djurgardens.
Pafos FC finished in 12th place out of the 36 teams which entered the competition’s league phase, and as such were seeded for the playoff round, while Omonia finished in 22nd place, and were not.
In the domestic league, Pafos FC are currently top of the table, with 55 points taken from their 22 games so far. Omonia are in third place, ten points further back.
Elsewhere, Cyprus’ third side in the Europa Conference League, Apoel, were drawn to play against Slovenian champions NK Celje, playing in Slovenia on Thursday night before the return leg will take place at the GSP Stadium in a week’s time.
Apoel were the highest-ranking Cypriot side in the league phase, finishing in 11th place. By a quirk of the draw, if they come off best against NK Celje, they will play whichever of Lugano and Djurgardens does not get drawn to play the winner of the all-Cypriot tie.
Should any of the three Cypriot teams remaining in the competition reach the final, they will play it on May 28 next year at the Wroclaw Stadium in the Polish city of Wroclaw.
