Cyprus BXL FC draw 1-1 with Finland away from home for first playoff leg

Cyprus BXL FC managed to get a good result away from home last night against Finland for the first leg of the first playoff round of the BXL Euroleague. They must be happy for the draw, as Finland had two shots hitting the woodwork, and their performance was lacking the soundness and fluidity of previous games. They will look to capitalise on last night's away goal (scored by Papoutsas) when they play the return leg at the ISB next week and they must improve drastically in functional terms if they have higher aspirations for this season.


Finland had the upper hand in midfield for the first 15-20 minutes last night, as the Cypriots couldn't establish a foothold on the game. They were having trouble stringing passes together, their lines positioned too far apart from each other, with individual players often consumed in substance-less and frustrating solo attempts against numerous Finnish defenders. Finland threatened the Cyprus goal a couple of times before they managed to convert from a badly defended corner around the 20 minute mark.

Once again, having found themselves a goal behind, the Cypriots seemed to be slowly waking up, and in the last 15 minutes of the half went forward more threateningly. A long ball sent Rossides through on goal in the best scoring opportunity of the first half, which he didn't manage to convert, and the same happened with Georgakoudis and Papoutsas on two other very promising occasions.

In the end, a Cyprus corner led to a melee in the Finnish box from which Papoutsas profited to equalise from close range.

The second half started pretty much as the first, Cyprus BXL FC leaving too much space in the middle of the field for their opponents to use, while in attack the questions they posed were few and far between. Finland was more demanding from the game, but thankfully for Cyprus time passed without incidents, and the result remained unchanged till the final whistle.

All will be decided next week at the return leg, but what is certain after last night, is that the Cypriots cannot expect very much with this kind of performance. They were not convincing at any point in the game, and their good moments seemed only to accentuate the generally mediocre performance. They need to take a long and hard inward look before the return leg next, they need to regain composure, and grab the game by the scruff of the neck if they want to go through. Finland has shown its mettle, stout and solid, but clearly not matching Cyprus BXL FC in terms of overall quality.

Man of the match for last night goes to no one, as nobody managed to really stand above the rest. Special mentions for Karides and Louka, who put in solid performances at right and left back, and Anastasiou, who had some good moments in midfield.

Starting XI: Gogakis, Karides, Telemachou, Antonakopoulos, Louka, Severis, Anastasiou, Voudouris, Georgakoudis, Papoutsas, Rossides.

The return leg of the playoff round against Finland is on Thursday, May 10 at the ISB.