Wisla Krakow were outplayed by APOEL FC to such an extent that the question “why?” has to be asked. Because it was a totally different performance to that in Krakow by a team which looked totally lost and bemused.

There is no doubt that the Polish champions went there to hold onto their slender one-goal lead and this is a tactic to which this team is just not suited. For almost the entire 90 minutes they allowed the ‘Cypriots’ - of which there weren’t any in the starting line-up - to do as they pleased with the ball. The home side couldn’t believe their luck at the space and time they were given by the visitors defense and midfield which stood back and simply waited for their opponents to make a mistake and give them the ball.

It’s true that they had to be careful with their tackling because this APOEL side was full of players who made a meal out of every contact and the vociferous crowd did its part to sway the referee. But they also tried this on in Krakow where they didn’t have that crowd behind them and instead found the Reymonta roar forcing the red shirts to get stuck in, which they did. Back in Krakow Wisla showed that APOEL FC are no Barcelona and by being harassed, chased and tackled they can be quite easily dispossessed of the ball. They are also prone to making passing mistakes providing they are not given time and space in which to line them up, whilst at the same time other players are likewise not given the freedom to receive them. In the second leg APOEL were given room to go all the way up to the penalty area and even defender William Boaventura kept venturing up to join in the fun.

This over-cautiousness caused by fear of giving away free-kicks may also have been affected by nervousness, probably due to the psychological barrier which qualification for the UEFA Champions League has become for Polish clubs. It is a nervousness which created a dilemma for Wisla – whether to attack or defend, and they chose the latter which played right into the hands of APOEL's ball-possessing side. For this, the coach Robert Maaskant has to be blamed.

Attacking midfielders like Maor Meliksson and Patryk Malecki were left to foray upfield with little support from a midfield which was reluctant to go with them. Quite often they only had lone attacker Tsvetan Genkov up front and found themselves totally outnumbered.

But it was the total misreading of the game by Wisla’s defense which created the biggest problems. Junior Diaz was often caught out of position at left back leaving Apoel’s strikers Ailton and Trickovski to exploit that flank with great success. The Costa Rican was not even at the left-hand post for that fatal corner which set the home team off on their goal-scoring spree. A proper defender might have dealt with it better than Malecki.

Wisla Krakow need European football and thankfully this debacle does not mean the end, but the start of a guaranteed minimum of six more fixtures, albeit in the lesser competition, the UEFA Europa League. But if they are to go even further then they have to learn from this Cypriot misadventure, and the man who is paid to put things right is the coach Robert Maaskant.

Lech Poznan showed last season that it is not beyond the realms of possibility for the champions of Poland to go on from the group stage and this should be the minimum target for the White Star.