APOEL hold Ajax

Ajax finished with 10 men on Tuesday but moved closer to the Champions League group stage with a 0-0 draw away to APOEL in Nicosia in a playoff round first-leg match. The game was goalless but packed with incident. Ajax, a four-time winner of the competition and a semifinalist last season, dominated possession and created a string of promising situations. But the lively home attack, with 22-year-old Jordanian Musa Suleiman showing some eye-catching form, created the most dangerous chances.