Champions League: historic night for Pafos, Villarreal knockout. Qarabag sends message to Napoli
A historic result in the Champions League came in one of the matches scheduled at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday: Pafos, a Cypriot club that qualified for the first time this year to the main stage of Europe’s top competition, in fact won its first match by beating, among others, a worthy opponent such as Villarreal, from the Spanish La Liga.
The match played at the Alphamega Stadium in Kolossi, on the outskirts of Limassol, was decided by a goal scored by Derrick Luckassen, a Dutch defender in his second season at Pafos. Despite the efforts of the Spanish lineup (in the end there will be as many as 18 total goals, compared to 3 for the hosts), the team coached by Juan Carlos Carcedo was able to celebrate the three points, which takes it past Napoli and Juventus, among others, in the standings.
In the other match played late in the Italian afternoon, Qarabag Azerbaijanis put no small amount of fear into reigning world champions Chelsea. The Blues’ lead, scored by Estevao on 16′, was in fact overturned by goals from Leandro Andrade on 29′ and Jankovic, on a penalty kick, on 39′ and only Garnacho’s flick in the 53rd minute prevented a defeat for Enzo Maresca’s men.
Both contenders have thus risen to 7 points in the standings and remain quite comfortably, midway through the League Phase, in the lot of teams that, by placing between ninth and 24th, would face the playoff to enter the round of 16. Qarabag, moreover, will be Napoli’s next opponent in the Nov. 25 match.
