APOEL reached the Champions League last 16 for the first time as a group winner despite losing its unbeaten record after a 2-0 home defeat by Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.
APOEL had already become the first Cypriot team to qualify for the knockout round but stayed top of Group G after Zenit St. Petersburg drew 0-0 at FC Porto to go through as runner-up.
Luiz Adriano and Yevhen Seleznyov scored second-half goals for Shakhtar to win its first group stage match this season.
APOEL coach Ivan Jovanovic said self-confidence and disciplined play rather than pure chance carried his team to the last 16, coupled with a belief that it could achieve more than its first Champions League group stage appearance two years ago when it finished last.
''This year we wanted something more and we achieved much more than perhaps it was normal for us to achieve,'' Jovanovic said. ''When we see teams like our opponent today that didn't advance, his quality and dynamism, you can imagine how my players deserve all the congratulations they get.''
Jovanovic relished top spot in the group because APOEL will avoid having to face some topflight teams first up in the knockout stage.
''There are some teams that I enjoy watching, but I don't enjoy playing against,'' he said.
Jovanovic also scolded fans for tossing smoke flares on the pitch towards the end of the match.
''A Cypriot team in the best 16 teams in Europe is something unbelievable. The eyes of the entire world are on us ... such actions aren't acceptable at this level.''
With no chance of qualifying or finishing third to reach the Europa League, Shakhtar had nothing to lose and piled on the pressure from the start with its speedy attacks flustering an APOEL team displaying an uncustomary lack of poise.
Shakhtar was awarded a penalty in the 11th minute when Nektarios Alexandrou was yellow-carded for fouling Fernandinho in the box. But goalkeeper Urko Pardo guessed the right way and saved Adriano's spot kick.
Adriano made up for the miss by scoring in the 62nd, redirecting a cross by Vyacheslav Shevchuk into the net from close range.
Shakhtar's second came when an unmarked Seleznyov picked up the rebound from Urko Pardo's save off a long-range shot from Willian and slotted the ball in the net in the 78th.
Pardo again impressed in the 68th when he made back-to-back saves on a flick from Douglas Costa from Darijo Srna's cross and a follow-up shot by Adriano from inside the box.
APOEL didn't have many good chances to score, as its star striker Ailton Almeida was sidelined with nagging abdominal muscle pains. The hosts came closest five minutes before halftime when Shakhtar goalkeeper Olexandr Rybka just got enough of the ball from APOEL striker Ivan Trickovski's close-range effort for it to trickle wide of the net.
Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu said he was pleased with his team's performance, but was ''disappointed and saddened'' by its failure to advance.
''We deserved a better result from the start, but football is not always fair,'' he said. ''We paid for our mistakes, even though we created 50 chances to score, APOEL and its defense proved stronger than us.''
