Pafos – Bayern Munich

The champion of Cyprus will surprise the favourite on their home ground.

Paphos made its debut in European competitions last season and immediately reached the Round of 16 in the Europa Conference League. As a result of the recent Cypriot championship, the club became champion for the first time in its history, which indicates a tendency to improve its standard. This was clearly reflected in the qualification for the Champions League which Paphos navigated effortlessly. The islanders earned the right to compete in the group stage by overcoming Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dynamo Kyiv, and Red Star Belgrade. In each matchup, Paphos was considered the underdog, yet it emerged victorious in every instance, completely justified. It’s hard to believe that in its current form, this club emerged just over eleven years ago. Bayern Munich, last season, failed to realise its ambition of reaching a home Champions League final. The new season has seen the German champions start more seriously, steamrolling through every opponent in all tournaments. Now, Kompany has a team prepared for great achievements, but do the Munich players suspect that the match in Cyprus could be one of their toughest in the first half of the football season? Of course, Paphos has not faced a team of Bayern's calibre before, but many solid teams have already struggled on the island. Bookmakers have deemed the visitors the favourites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 1.12 for their victory. Paphos played its first Champions League match in Greece, facing Olympiacos. The Cypriot champions were down to ten men by the 26th minute but organised their defence in such a way that they not only avoided conceding under those conditions but also did not allow their opponents to create a sufficient number of goal-scoring opportunities. It seems that Casedo has really formed a strong and resilient squad in Cyprus. Bayern may greatly underestimate such an opponent, especially while riding a wave of success that is evident from the results of the German champions. In the first round of the Champions League group stage, Bayern convincingly defeated Chelsea in Munich. This victory smoothly integrated into a corresponding run that now totals seven matches. Undoubtedly, Bayern is comprised of more talented players, but Paphos on home turf could present them with a real surprise.