Played
March 27, 2012 7:45 PM BST
Neo GSP — Strovolos
Referee:‬ F. Brych‎
Attendance:‬ 22000‎
 
 
 
Kaká 82′
 

APOEL - Real Madrid Preview: Jose Mourinho's men look to gain first-leg advantage over Cypriots

La Liga leaders will be looking to avoid an upset in the first leg of their Champions League tie against surprise package of the season at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia

By Luke Matthews

Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil, Real Madrid, Malaga
Getty Images

PROBABLE LINEUPS

APOEL


Chiotis
 Poursaitidis, Jorge, Oliveira, Boaventura
 Morais, Marcinho
 Charalambidis, Trickovski, Solari
 Ailton
REAL MADRID


Casillas
Arbeloa, Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo
Khedira, Granero
Ozil, Kaka, Ronaldo
Benzema


APOEL coach Ivan Jovanovic will be unable to call upon the suspended Gustavo Manduca in attack with the Brazilian set to be replaced by Ivan Trickovski. 

Marcinho may partner Nuno Morais in the centre of the field for the Cypriot club with Helder Sousa likely to drop to the bench. William Boaventura is expected to shrug off a knock to start at left-back.

Jose Mourinho welcomes back two players from domestic suspension as Pepe and Mesut Ozil are likely to return to the Spanish side's starting XI.

However, one player who will not feature for Madrid is Xabi Alonso, who is banned after reaching his yellow card limit in the competition. Esteban Granero is likely to start.

Despite playing two forwards in the 5-1 Liga win over Real Sociedad on Saturday, the visitors are expected to line-up with Karim Benzema as the lone striker with Gonzalo Higuain resigned to a place on the bench.

Angel Di Maria, Lassana Diarra, Jose Callejon and Ricardo Carvalho all miss out through injury as all four are left out of Madrid's 19-man squad.


DID YOU KNOW?
  • APOEL have already become the most successful Cypriot side in Champions League history by reaching the quarter-finals.
  • Dionisis Chiotis was the side's hero in the round of 16, saving two penalties in the shootout victory against Lyon after the tie had ended 1-1 on aggregate. 
  • This is the third consecutive season where APOEL have faced Spanish opposition in Europe. They met Getafe in the Europa League last campaign and Atletico Madrid in the Champions League the season before.
  • Real Madrid have a near perfect record in the competition this term, winning seven of their eight games so far, drawing the other.
  • Jose Mourinho has a 100 per cent record in Champions League quarter-finals with Porto, Chelsea, Inter and now Madrid as his sides have all advanced to the semi-finals when they made the last eight.
  • No other team has competed in more quarter-finals in the competition than the Spanish giants, who will be making their 29th appearance in the last eight. Madrid have lost only six of these fixtures.
Mweene; Nkausu, Sunzu, Himoonde, Musonda; Chansa, Lungu, Sinkala, Kalaba; C. Katongo (c), Mayuka


Field Report
Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
Head to Head
UEFA Champions League ‎(UCL)‎ 4 Apr 2012 Real Madrid 5 - APOEL 2
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  • Match Report
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UEFA Champions League ‎(UCL)‎ 27 Mar 2012 APOEL 0 - Real Madrid 3
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Last Five Matches
Odds
Returns: Apoel Nicosia £410.00 WilliamHill Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25
Returns: Draw £110.00 WilliamHill Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25
Returns: Real Madrid £13.30 Bet365 Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200
Team News
Available Squads
22Dionisis ChiotisGoalkeeper
-Paulo JorgeDefender
6Jose Marcelo OliveiraGoalkeeper
-Savvas Poursaitidis
-BoaventuraDefender
10Konstantinos CharalambidesMidfielder
26Nuno MoraisDefender
-AiltonStriker
17Ivan Trickovski Striker
23Hélio PintoStriker
29Nektarios AlexandrouMidfielder
78Urko PardoGoalkeeper
-KakáDefender
-Helder SousaMidfielder
77Athos SolomouMidfielder
10Marcinho da SilvaMidfielder
9Esteban Andrés SolariStriker
20Aldo Adorno Striker
1Iker CasillasGoalkeeper
3PepeDefender
4Sergio RamosDefender
15Fabio CoentraoDefender
17ArbeloaDefender
8Nuri SahinMidfielder
6Sami KhediraMidfielder
10Mesut ÖzilMidfielder
7Cristiano RonaldoStriker
9Karim BenzemaStriker
20Gonzalo HiguaínStriker
13AdánGoalkeeper
12MarceloDefender
18Raúl Albiol TortajadaDefender
19Raphaël VaraneDefender
8KakáMidfielder
14Esteban GraneroMidfielder
4Hamit AltintopMidfielder
Players to Watch
Dionisis Chiotis
Dionisis Chiotis
Position: Goalkeeper
Squad Number: 22
Games Goals YC RC
0 0 0 0
The experienced Greek goalkeeper performed heroics in a penalty shootout to advance past Olympique Lyonnais in the last round and the 34-year-old will have to be at his very best if he is to repel the threat of one of the most devastating attacks in world football.
The experienced Greek goalkeeper performed heroics in a penalty shootout to advance past Olympique Lyonnais in the last round and the 34-year-old will have to be at his very best if he is to repel the threat of one of the most devastating attacks in world football.
Mesut Özil
Mesut Özil
Position: Midfielder
Squad Number: 10
Games Goals YC RC
10 1 1 0
Ozil should be fresh after missing his team's 5-1 Liga win over Real Sociedad at the weekend through suspension. Expect the German playmaker to pull the strings in attack for Los Blancos and if the visitors are to win, the former Werder Bremen man will surely play an important role in doing so.
Ozil should be fresh after missing his team's 5-1 Liga win over Real Sociedad at the weekend through suspension. Expect the German playmaker to pull the strings in attack for Madrid and if the visitors are to win, the former Werder Bremen man will surely play an important role in doing so.
Prediction
APOEL have done brilliantly to reach this stage of the competition but their Champions League run will surely come to an end against Real Madrid and expect Jose Mourinho's men to put in a professional performance away from home to take a comfortable lead back to the Santiago Bernabeu.
APOEL have done brilliantly to reach this stage of the competition but their Champions League run will surely come to an end against Real Madrid and expect Jose Mourinho's men to put in a professional performance away from home to take a comfortable lead back to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Editor's Prediction
Results
 
Top Scorers
Player   Goals Penalties
Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo
Striker
Real Madrid
12 0
Robert  Lewandowski Robert Lewandowski
Striker
Borussia Dortmund
10 1
Thomas Müller Thomas Müller
Striker
Bayern Munich
8 1
Lionel Messi Lionel Messi
Striker
Barcelona
8 0
Burak Yılmaz Burak Yılmaz
Striker
Galatasaray
8 0