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Two times European champions Porto, the affluent Manchester City and, shockingly, last season's finalists Manchester United suffered the "embarrassment," as Red Devils' defender Patrice Evra described it, of having to play their European games on a Thursday night come February - games that will be played against a significantly lesser calibre opposition.
Back in September, a third placed finish from lightly-regarded APOEL Nicosia in a group that included Shakhtar Donetsk, Porto and Zenit St Petersburg would have been welcomed as an unprecedented success in their club's history, better than anything they could have reasonably expected.
APOEL, however, went well beyond this. They ended up topping Group G despite a 2-0 home defeat to bottom-placed Shakhtar Donetsk last week - their only loss in six matches against far superior opposition.
APOEL had to play six matches before reaching the Champions League group stage, their tournament starting in July. In their 12 matches, Cyprus's champions are 6-4-2. (Photo Credit: AFP PHOTO/TALAR KALAJIAN/Getty Images)
The Cypriot champions were rank outsiders to qualify against three teams that have each won the Europa League in the last four seasons and are on vastly greater resources than those available to APOEL, a club with an estimated annual budget of $13.5 million. They had even managed to secure their place in the last 16 with a game to spare.
The way head coach Ivan Jovanovic's side have played has been well documented: allowing the opposition team the majority of possession; emphasizing closing down space; taking full advantage of the sporadic chances they get at the other end of the pitch. According to UEFA's official statistics, the Cypriots averaged only slightly above 40 per cent of possession in their group games. In the five matches it took them to qualify, they were the most efficient team in the competition at that stage, needing less than four attempts to find the net.
While APOEL's success has been impressive on its own, a major reason for it can be traced back to 2009. No, that's not when APOEL was the subject of any kind of multi-million pound takeover; instead, APOEL have been among the prime benefactors of the changes made to the Champions League qualifying phase that were introduced by UEFA President Michel Platini in 2009.
The revamp was designed to provide easier access to the group stage for league-winners outside Europe's top 12-ranked circuits. By giving them a route which avoided a potential playoff against teams the last qualifiers from the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga (to name a few), these teams now have a much better chance of actually making the groups. Now, the these league-winners play-off against each other, guaranteeing some get through.
The reforms received a lukewarm (at best) welcome from teams in the higher echelons of Europe, but at the time, the UEFA president was keen to make the point: The idea behind the changes, that of a more inclusive UEFA, would be the cornerstone of his ideology at the helm.
In a group stage that has in the past been so often maligned for its predictability and lack of surprises, the planned changes were hardly expected to overturn this trend. Theoretically, paving the path for clubs from lesser leagues would have the exact opposite effect.
For Platini it has always been about ensuring a fairer system of qualification, guaranteeing clubs from 'lesser' countries (both in terms of the financial strength of their domestic leagues and in respect of their UEFA country coefficients) would be better represented in the continent's premier club competition, allowing them a share of the very lucrative spoils.
His view was that teams outside the traditional soccer powerhouses were not less deserving of a place in the competition. At the time he had even tabled the proposal that winners of national cup competitions have a path into the Champions League and was quoted as saying: "I believe in that idea but I believe it came too early, I wanted more democracy in the access list".
The year Platini's changes took effect, APOEL became the second ever team from Cyprus to qualify for the Champions League, and despite finishing last in a group featuring Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Porto, they largely held their own. This season, at their next attempt, they qualified for group stage again, this time by beating Polish champions Wisla Krakow in the playoff round.
FC Copenhagen - their opponents two years ago - and Wisla were certainly no easy pickings for a team like APOEL, but they cannot be compared to sides like Arsenal or Bayern Munich, teams which could have conceivably blocked their path under the old rules.
While ( as FOX Soccer's Andy Brassell notes ) their passage into the last 16 this season may have been as much down to their own tactical discipline and efficiency as the below-par performances of their more illustrious opposition, their first outing into the groups undoubtedly contributed to their success this season.
"Our confidence and experience from two years ago, when we (were) also in the competition, were the catalysts for our campaign," Jovanovic said after APEOL's final group match. "We knew our strengths and weaknesses. We also knew that our opponents would be stronger than us but that there would be opportunities in the games that we could seize."
Other than building up the necessary experience and belief, participation in the group stages in 2009 succeeded in making APOEL an attractive team for players from middle-ranking sides outside the top European leagues, such as Greece. Greece may traditionally have had a stronger domestic league than Cyprus, but with no real prospects of Champions League football for clubs outside the top two (Olympiakos and Panathinaikos). Therefore taking the plunge and signing for a Cypriot club consistently challenging for titles and the prospect of Champions League football has swayed the likes of Gustavo Manduca, Sanel Jahic and Marcelo Oliveira - players integral to APOEL's fortunes this season.
Moreover, one of the main aims of the reforms was to spread the immense wealth participation in the competition brings. The money that APOEL accumulated from their 2009 campaign - a little more than $13 million, according to the 2009-2010 UEFA financial report - has allowed the Cypriot club to clear their debts, keep their best players and manager, as well as add to their squad. From this year's cash flow, APOEL are already planning to build desperately needed new training facilities and redevelop their youth academy, both moves likely to benefit soccer on the island in the long run.
In the last two years, eight teams have made their debuts in competition, demonstrating the increase in diversity that UEFA had targeted. However, to herald the new system a complete success based on APOEL's example would be to ignore some very obvious failures.
Just this season, Otelul Galati and Dinamo Zagreb - two other clubs that benefitted from the 2009 reforms - looked completely out of their depth, ending up as whipping boys in their respective groups, finishing the tournament without managing to collect a single point. However, who is to say that they cannot use their experience this season as an inspiration for the future, just as APOEL used 2009?
The football and financial gains are there for the taking, they just require the organization, good management, foresight and, of course, luck that the Cypriots have enjoyed in the last three seasons.
Despite their success, APOEL will still be the team that all group runners up will fancy in the next round ahead of the draw on December 16. Platini's reforms have been a major contributing factor in giving them the opportunity to be there in the first place. This should in no way be overlooked as we prepare for a last 16 without Manchester United.
Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/soccer/article_external/apoel_first_product_of_platinis_dream/8696233
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