Preview: Apollon Ladies vs. WFC CSKA

On August 21, 2021, our team will face Apollon Ladies, Cyprus in the Final of 2021/2022 Women's Champions League Qualifying Round 1 Group 6 that will be played at Tsirio Stadium (Limassol, Cyprus).

Dominant power

Apollon Ladies FC was established in 2007. It is the leading club in Cyprus, having won nine consecutive doubles and twelve league titles in total. It is associated with the men's side Apollon Limassol.

Apollon has practically no rivals in the domestic championship, although, by and large, there is not much to compete with – only nine teams play in the Women's Cyprus League. The tournament is played up to a certain stage, after which a series of playoffs begins, where the top five teams enter. Last season, Apollon did not suffer a single defeat (21 wins and one draw in 22 games) and became the champion of Cyprus for the 12th time in its history.

Apollon played in the Champions League for the first time in 2009, it was the qualification round. After that, there were several more times to play in the UWCL, but not too successfully as Apollo did not pass beyond the Round of 32.

What's new
Last season was not very successful for Apollon. They won the national championship, but in the Cup Final sensationally lost to Omonia from Nicosia in a penalty shootout (4:3, the full time ended with a score of 0:0). For a club that is used to always winning any defeat, especially in the final, it is akin to a serious failure.

The Cypriots partially spent their pre-season training at home, after which they went to Poland, where they played a number of friendly matches. In the first half of August, they returned to Limassol, where continued training ahead of the Champions League qualification round games.

Road to the UWCL QR Final
Like WFC CSKA, it took Apollon 120 minutes in the first semifinal to break the resistance of the Dinamo Minsk. The red card of the midfielder of the Belarusian team Anastasia Linnik in the 95th minute helped, after which the Apollon players scored twice with an interval of six minutes. The second goal was from the penalty spot.

Opinion
Sergey Lavrentyev, WFC CSKA head coach:
“We have made good recovery procedures and today we held a pre-game training session, where we set certain goals. We plan to use them for tomorrow's game. We are going to face a very serious opponent Apollon Ladies FC, which, with the acquisition of a large number of foreign players, looks completely different, not the same as it was before. We are seriously preparing, it will be a difficult match. Apollon has a very good attack group and an organized defense line, and each line has its own leader and its own performer. This team likes to use free zones, which the Cypriots showed in the match with Dinamo Minsk. They have fast wings and central players, and they will certainly use their speed qualities”.

Where to watch
Watch LIVE at Match! Strana, Sportbox.ru, and wfccska.ru.

About
Apollon Ladies FC (Cyprus)
Founded in 2007
Team colors: blue, white
Honors: Cypriot First Division (2009-2017, 2019-2021), Cypriot Cup (2009-2018), Cypriot Super Cup (2009-2011, 2013-2015, 2017)
Ground: Tsirio Stadium (capacity – 13331)
General manager: George Papageorgiou
Website: www.apollonladies.com