The first eight clubs from the Knockout Phase of this prestigious tournament met between Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th for the 1st leg fixtures. On each of the four matches there was a triumphant club that now has a foot in the quarterfinals, either with a narrow advantage like Lyon, or with an almost-unbeatable one, like Milan. This first fraction of the last 16 will now have to wait until March 6th and 7th to continue with the challenge and look up for the chance move over to the next phase; but first the remaining 8 will meet between tomorrow and this Wednesday. All the same, here is a short review of the first matches:
February 14th - Lyon 1-0 APOEL: these two had their encounter at the Stade de Gerland, where the Cypriots seemed to be in disadvantage against Olympique Lyonnais, which dominated during the whole game. Although Les Gones still have a higher UEFA coefficient than APOEL, the Cypriots have been improving a lot during this season and in fact it has become the first Cypriot club to reach the round of 16. APOEL's performance has been very good during the competition but on Tuesday it wasn't enough and Alexandre Lacazette saw a chance in this to place the goal that gave his team the current lead.
February 14th - Lyon 1-0 APOEL: these two had their encounter at the Stade de Gerland, where the Cypriots seemed to be in disadvantage against Olympique Lyonnais, which dominated during the whole game. Although Les Gones still have a higher UEFA coefficient than APOEL, the Cypriots have been improving a lot during this season and in fact it has become the first Cypriot club to reach the round of 16. APOEL's performance has been very good during the competition but on Tuesday it wasn't enough and Alexandre Lacazette saw a chance in this to place the goal that gave his team the current lead.