Atletico Madrid came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with Apoel and remain on course for a Europa League place.
Simao's equaliser rescues Spaniards against Apoel
Atletico Madrid came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with Apoel in Nicosia and remain on course for a Europa League place in UEFA Champions League Group D.
The Cypriot champions were heading for the first Champions League win in their history thanks to Nenad Mirosavljevic's fifth-minute opener.
That was cancelled out by Atletico captain Simao just after the hour mark, meaning Apoel need a result against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their final group game to have any chance of snatching third spot.
Their result would be irrelevant if Atletico can clinch their second group win at the expense of Porto, who are already certain of progressing to the knockout stage.
A lively start to the game saw Apoel's Paulo Jorge booked inside the first minute for hauling down Sergio Aguero, while Simao was also shown the yellow card two minutes later for deliberate handball.
Early opener
The home side then took the lead in only the fifth minute when Nectarios Alexandrou did well down the left and his low cross gave Mirosavljevic the simple task of tapping in to become Apoel's first goalscorer in the Champions League, with their only other goal in the group having been an own goal.
Diego Forlan had the chance to level soon after when he was left in acres of space in the area but the former Manchester United man shot tamely at Dionisios Chiotis.
Belgian referee Frank De Bleeckere was brandishing the yellow card again after Alvaro Dominguez unfairly halted Savvas Poursaitides, and although the visitors began to dominate possession they struggled to create clear-cut openings with Apoel defending in numbers.
In fact it was the Cypriots who could have doubled their advantage just before the break as Alexandrou and Mirosavljevic again combined well in a flowing move but the latter failed to find his team-mate with the final ball into the area.
The Spanish side were clearly lacking in confidence and their lack of a cutting edge continued at the start of the second half, with Jose Manuel Jurado resorting to a long-range effort which flew well over.
Equaliser
The decisive moment came in the 62nd minute though when Aguero crossed from the right, Chiotis could only parry the ball to Simao and the skipper made no mistake from 10 yards out despite the efforts of Christos Kontis on the line.
Simao tested Chiotis again as Atletico went in search of a second goal which would have secured their Europa League place and the tired hosts rarely threatened in the closing stages.
| Apoel Nicosia |
Team Statistics |
Atlético de Madrid |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
Shots on Target |
7 |
| 2 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 2 |
Corners |
5 |
| 16 |
Fouls |
20 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 74.3 |
Passing Success |
81.8 |
| 21 |
Tackles |
11 |
| 81 |
Tackles Success |
72.7 |
| 42.9 |
Possession |
57.1 |
| 46.5 |
Territorial Advantage |
53.5 |
|
