Cypriot duo back in action after easy wins

AEL and AEK have all but booked their progess to the second qualifying round of the Europa League following their big wins against St Joseph’s and Lincoln Red Imps in last week’s games, rendering the return legs a formality.

AEL will play for the first time this season in front of their loud and partizan home crowd and they will be looking to better their first leg perfomance when they eased to a 4-0 win.

How many AEL fans will turn up for the game against St Joseph’s though remains to be seen especially as kick-off is scheduled for 5pm when it will still be extremely hot outside, with many people also at work.

AEK’s 5-0 first leg thrashing of Lincoln Red Imps will give the chance to their coach Imanol Idiakez to experiment with new players and formations in the return leg in Faro, which has a late 11pm kick-off.

If as expected both teams progress, they should fancy their chances of advancing further.

AEL will play against the part-timers from Luxembourg, Progres Niederkorn, who surprisingly knocked out Glasgow Rangers on Tuesday while AEK will probably play against Irish team Cork City who hold a two-goal advantage over Levadia from the first leg in Estonia.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.