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Nicosia welcomes the Danish with 42 degrees

The away team had a chance to achieve a good result in the first match, and in the end they barely managed to score a goal for 1-2. Considering the conditions on Cyprus today, it's hard to expect a miracle

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The famous phrase "do what you can today, don't leave it for tomorrow" can sometimes be overpriced. However, APOEL's players took it quite seriously last week in Denmark. They made a big step forward in the away match towards the Champions League playoffs. Unlike the duel against Vardar the round before, that night they didn't have so many opportunities, but their efficiency was on a lot higher level.

- After the great first half, in the second one we lowered our pace a bit which our opponents used to soften the defeat. Too bad for the conceded goal, but the 2-1 result is still great for a rematch which won't be easy at all, we can't think that the job is already done - commented the coach of the Cyprus champions, Domingos Paciencia.

Had Guilherme and Antoniades been able to play in APOEL's defense that day, maybe their net would have remained intact. Be that as it may, the duo is back to training now and the Portuguese expert will have them available if need be. Goalkeeper Pardo and midfielder Aloneftis are not so close to coming back, but their absence is old news.

And with time, Paciencia is still very cautious:

- Before us is a match which will, in a way, set our future (author's note: the winner will, by a minimum, secure the Europa League) and that's why we need to have support from all sides. Because in order to pass we will have to play better than we did in Denmark. If only one player is out of his normal zone, we could find ourselves in trouble.

Let's just mention that the match will be played in "hell". Cyprus is estimated to reach temperatures of 42 degrees today. It has never been so hut this summer in Nicosia, and this is probably the last day for it as well. Who lives will tell the tale.

In the first match Midtjylland showed a very good game. They were the better team, they attacked more, but their realization was out. APOEL managed to take the lead with 2-0, and the Danish were lucky to lower that down with one goal, somewhat securing their chance to pass.

For the weekend Midtjylland offered another good game, this time against Odense whom the managed to break in 93rd minute thanks to Rasmussen's goal. After three rounds Midtjylland have the maximum nine points. This season they've won in each game except in the most important one - the one against APOEL.

- We know we're up for a tough task, it won't be easy to make up for it against such a great team, but we will fight and hope for the best. We came from 15 degrees to 40 and we won't be able to impose our game straight away - said the away team's coach Jess Thorup, and added:

- It will take time for us to adjust to the conditions. We know we need to score at least twice and will that be at the very start or the end of the match, I don't care.

The away team will be missing midfielder Andersson who played twice this season and Hedinson who didn't even ste out onto the turf.