All four clubs representing Cyprus in European football tournaments – Aris, AEK, Omonia and APOEL – advanced to the next round of their competition as they passed their first obstacle of the new campaign.
Champions Aris Limassol added another five goals to their tally against BATE Borisov for an aggregate 11-5 victory as they progressed to the third round of the Champions League qualifiers.
Aris defeated BATE Borisov 5-3 in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League qualifier on Tuesday evening in their debut appearance in the tournament.
The Limassol club’s first appearance in the Champions League was marked by two Cypriot records, one for the most goals scored in a two-leg qualifier and the win with the largest goal difference.
Apart from breaking records, Aris secured a minimum of €2.94 mln from its European campaign.
Prevailing over opponents Bate Borisov in the second preliminary round of the Champions League means that in the worst-case scenario, Aris will play in the Europa Conference League group stage.
Should Aris make it to the lucrative group stage of the Champions League, the team will bank a minimum of €15.64 mln.
AEK Larnaca qualified for the third preliminary round of the Europa Conference League after drawing 1-1 with Belarusian Torpedo Zhodino at home but going through 4-3 on aggregate.
The Larnaca side beat the Belarusians away 2-3 in the first leg played last week.
Cup winners Omonia Nicosia also went through to the third preliminary of the Conference League after demolishing Gabala FK 4-1 at home for a 7-3 aggregate score.
Omonia also beat the Azerbaijani team away 3-2 last week.
APOEL Nicosia beat Vojvodina FK from Serbia a second time, this time away with the same score, 2-1, as in the first game played at home.
They qualified for the next Conference League round with a 4-2 aggregate win.
The three Cypriot teams playing in the Conference League have secured a minimum of half a million euros as they reach the third preliminary round of the tournament.
Reaching the playoffs would earn them a total of 750,000, while entering the group stage generates €2.94 mln flowing into their coffers, without calculating earnings from tickets and TV rights.
