Football in Cyprus

Cypriot champions APOEL took a big step towards reaching the Champions League group stages for a fourth time after beating Slavia Prague 2-0 on Tuesday night in Nicosia.

A disastrous night for Greek teams in the Europa League on Thursday saw the three of them collect just one point, as Olympiakos drew away from home and Panathinaikos and PAOK suffered home losses.

Olympiakos dropped back to the second spot of its pool after drawing 1-1 at Astana in Kazakhstan.

Olympiakos and Panathinaikos lost games they should not have lost in the Europa League on Thursday, but PAOK saved some face for Greece on the night with a precious away win in the Czech Republic.

Cypriot champion APOEL added another scalp to its collection of the last seven years in Europe, beating Greek champion Olympiakos 1-0 in Piraeus to move up to six points.

By Sophie Makris

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