APOEL Nicosia vs Real Madrid: 5 Key Talking Points

#2 Pote is isolated as APOEL's plan to attack down the wing falters

APOEL couldn't pose any real threat to the Real Madrid

APOEL was set up to sit back and exploit the flanks as and when the opportunity arises. But Carvajal and Marcelo were sturdy on their respective wings and made life difficult for Aloneftis, Zahid, Sallai, Lago and Vouros.

Aloneftis tried hard and even got into crossing positions but the quality of his service was consistently poor. Set-piece delivery was awful and Casilla was hardly tested between the sticks.

Even after 3 goals had gone in, APOEL looked like a team that expected worse and weren't pressing high up the pitch or running Madrid ragged. In fact, Pote was isolated for large portions of the game, so much so, that every once in a while when he popped up, one was surprised to see he was still on the pitch.