Luiz has found happiness again in Cyprus and is on his way to finishing his brilliant career successfully. Against all odds, the Cypriot champions eliminated Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Dynamo Kyiv and Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League qualifying stage to reach the league stage, and were rewarded with dream matches against Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Villarreal and Monaco, with fellow newcomers Kairat Almaty, Olympiacos and Slavia Prague completing their list of opponents. Luiz was not in a position to play in the qualification, but he was present in the celebrations after the victory over Red Star.
“Everyone was ecstatic,” Luiz said. BBC sport. “No one expected us to be in the Champions League this season. I am very happy to be here because I can see this feeling, with everyone’s hunger, to do something great.”
He has since become a pillar of Carcedo’s team, helping Pafos in their latest Cypriot title campaign, but they have failed to achieve greatness on Europe’s elite stage. Pafos have only collected six points from their first six Champions League games, losing 5-1 at home to Bayern and 2-0 away to Juventus. They also suffered disappointing away draws against Olympiacos and Kairat, but all hope is not lost yet.
On matchday four, Pafos pulled off one of the surprises of the tournament, beating Villarreal 1-0 at the Stelios Kyriakides stadium, and followed it up with a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Monaco at the Stade Louis II. The Cypriot champions twice recovered from a deficit, and Luiz scored the goals, heading brilliantly into the top corner after rising highest to meet a set-piece.
That was his first Champions League goal since 2017 and made him the second-oldest goalscorer in the competition’s history behind Real Madrid icon Pepe. Luiz has lost much of his mobility but still has a penchant for the spectacular and will be highly motivated to perform more heroics against his former club Chelsea.
“I’m going to play against Chelsea with my heart totally full of energy,” he promised. bbc. Pafos can still reach the tie if they get a positive result at the Bridge and in their final match of the league phase against Slavia, and if Luiz keeps his word, anything is possible.
