Borussia Dortmund's wait for a win in the UEFA Champions League continues after they were held to a 1-1 (0-0) draw by Apoel Nicosia in Cyprus on Matchday 3. Sokratis scored in a poor display by the Black & Yellows, who were denied by the woodwork twice late on.

Boris Rupert reporting from Nicosia

Around 17,000 spectators – including 1,200 Dortmund fans – at a below-capacity national stadium (22,859 seats) saw a laborious performance from the Bundesliga leaders, who fell behind to Poté's opener in the 62nd minute. Sokratis levelled with a header five minutes later, but Kagawa and Aubameyang were denied by the woodwork in the final half-hour as the hosts held on.

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The scenario: 
Having lost their opening two European games to Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Dortmund needed to take six points from their double header with Cypriot record champions Apoel, who have 26 league titles and 21 domestic cups to their name. The Nicosia-based outfit, who also lost their first two matches to Madrid and Tottenham, went into this game with an overwhelmingly negative record against German opposition, having won one (against BFC Dynamo Berlin in 1980), drawn one (against FC Schalke 04 in 2008) and lost 14 of their 16 previous matches. 

Personnel matters: 
Peter Bosz made five changes to the team that lost 3-2 to Leipzig, bringing Bartra, Schmelzer, Weigl, Kagawa and Pulisic into the starting XI in place of Toljan, Zagadou, Sahin, Castro and Philipp. Among the absentees was Dahoud, who is ill, as well as Reus, Piszczek, Guerreiro, Durm, Schürrle and Rode, who are all recovering from injuries.

Tactics: 
BVB lined up in their usual 4-3-3 formation, with Bartra starting at right-back and Götze and Kagawa in the central offensive midfield roles. The Black & Yellows played a high pressing game, forcing Nicosia into giving up possession or playing long balls. The visitors, meanwhile, opted for a more counter-attacking style with the majority of their threat coming down the left through the pacey Alonefitis, who repeatedly looked to pick out sharp-shooting centre forward de Camargo in the middle. Apoel switched to a 4-4-2 without the ball and withdrew deep into their own half once their first line of pressing had been overcome.

The match & analysis:
Borussia Dortmund recorded more possession (74 percent), corners (4-0) and shots (4-0) in the opening quarter of an hour, but the chances that fell to Yarmolenko (4) – who was played in by Kagawa – and the Japan international himself (13) on the rather blunt grass at the GSP Stadium were squandered, with both firing over the bar from inside the box. Another effort by Yarmolenko (14) was turned away for a corner, before the hosts came alarmingly close at the other end when they beat the offside trap only for de Camargo to fire narrowly wide (16).

Despite their best efforts to take an early lead, the Black & Yellows lacked the pace and precision needed to unlock Apoel's defensive rearguard in the opening half and failed to create any clear goalscoring opportunities, though they did record an impressive pass completion rate of 84%. The hosts made two changes before the break with injuries forcing off striker de Camargo (30), who was replaced by former Dresden man Poté, and goalkeeper Watermann (41).

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With the pressure to win the game hanging over them, the visitors seemed to grow more nervous by the minute and eventually fell behind to Poté's opener on the hour-mark. Bürki sent a misplaced pass straight to an Apoel player down the left and then spilt Ebecilio's shot from 16 metres into the path of the Benin forward, who rounded the shot-stopper and slotted home (62).

Sokratis levels five minutes later

The goal seemed to act as a wake-up call for the visitors, who had their first notable attempt on goal in 50 minutes when Pulisic struck from distance on the 64-minute mark. They levelled three minutes later when Götze took a short corner before chipping the ball into the box, where Sokratis won the aerial battle and headed home from five metres. Nicosia's new custodian Gudino then parried a powerful effort from Kagawa 20 metres out onto the woodwork 60 seconds later.

Kagawa hits the bar, Aubameyang denied by the upright

Having already made two substitutions – bringing on Toljan for Toprak (59) and Philipp for Schmelzer (74) – Bosz replaced the tiring Yarmolenko with Isak for the final ten minutes, but a winner continued to elude the visitors despite their best efforts. Pulisic came close at the back post on the 85-minute mark, before Aubameyang had a gilt-edged chance to claim all three points right at the death. Pulisic broke through down the right flank and crossed the ball towards the back post for Aubameyang to head goalbound, but the ball rebounded off the post and Bartra missed the follow-up (90+3). It was to be the final action of the night.

Prospects:  
The two clubs will face each other again in the return fixture in Dortmund in a fortnight's time (Wednesday 1 November). In the meantime BVB face three away games, the first coming when they travel to Frankfurt on Saturday. That will be followed by a DFB Cup Second Round clash in Magdeburg and a league trip to Hannover.

Teams & goals