Jovanović heralds a historic night for APOEL

Ivan Jovanović, APOEL coach
This is truly a historic result for our club. We knew that Porto would come here and take charge of the game. We knew what a strong side they are but we also know who we are and what we are capable of. After they equalised it would have been difficult to score again because there was little time left.

They wanted to turn the game around late on. That was when we seized our chance by counterattacking and thankfully we scored. This is one of the most important wins for our club, also because we defeated a side which I respect a lot. This is a great night for Cypriot football.

Vítor Pereira, Porto coach
The first half was very even. It was not easy to play against an aggressive team. We didn't manage to put the ball in the right place at the right time. In the second half we took control of the game and APOEL were, for much of the time, away from our goal.

We created chances to score, and managed to equalise but then it is inexplicable how such an experienced team as ours conceded the second goal. The players should understand that at that moment a point could have left everything open. Now we have to win the next two matches. Almost inexplicably we lost, but this is football and we have to turn things around in the next game.

APOEL have shown that football is not about who you are or the prestige of the club. It is about what you do on the pitch. Both sides worked very hard to win with APOEL playing their style and us playing ours. We tried to hold the midfield but they kept counterattacking and we showed that we lacked concentration in the two goals that we conceded. APOEL are a tough side to beat – we knew that from their results against Shakhtar and Zenit. We will do our best to collect the six points from our next two games. It all depends on us and we will have to put in a massive effort.