AEL took a qualifying lead, albeit a slight one, against Vlaznia, with its 1-0 victory in Tsirio in the first game of the second round of the Conference League. The blue and yellows will travel to Albania in order to defend their score and get the ticket for the next phase.
The 1-0, however, is a fragile score, especially since the rule of away goals no longer applies, something that would make the Limassols' lead “stronger”.
Regarding the specific score, it was repeated twice by AEL in its European past in the first home game, with a record of one qualification and one exclusion.
The first time that the blue and yellows won 1-0 in the first home game, was in 2012 (1/8), when for the third qualifying round of the Champions League, they defeated Partizan in “A. Papadopoulos”. It was followed by a double with the same score in Belgrade, with AEL getting a historic qualification, as it was led to the playoffs while securing a place in the Europa League groups. And yes in the Champions League playoffs it was eliminated by Anderlecht, but it participated for the first time in its history in a group stage.
The second and last time until this year that AEL prevailed with 1-0 in Cyprus in the first game, was two years later (30/7/14), against Zenit, also for the third round of the Champions League, again in ” A. Papadopoulos”. The result was completely different, as in the replay the Russians won 3-0 and eliminated the blue and yellows, who were transferred to the playoffs of the Europa League, where they met Tottenham and were eliminated again.
