After ending the season in second place, Maccabi Tel Aviv will attempt to qualify for the Europa League Group Stages for the third straight season and the fifth in the Club’s history. What can the Yellow & Blue expect on the road to continental play? All of the answers are below.
Maccabi will begin in the first round of Europa League qualifying and will need to advance through three more rounds for a total of 4 which includes the playoff round. This season, Maccabi can’t face an opponent who was eliminated from the Champions League qualifying rounds as was the possibility in the past and will face teams who have entered the qualification stages via their league or winning their domestic cup.
Due to Maccabi’s European point coefficient which has been earned over the past seasons, the Yellow & Blue will have a fairly high ranking in comparison to their potential opponents. As of now, Maccabi will be ranked in at least the first 3 rounds should they advance and will most probably be ranked in the playoff round as well but depends on other clubs’ results.
Match Dates
First Round: Draw – June 20. First leg – July 12; return leg – July 19
Second Round: Draw – June 20. First leg – July 26; return leg – August 2
Third Round: Draw – July 23. First leg – August 9; return leg – August 16
Playoff Round: Draw – August 6. First leg – August 23; return leg – August 30
Potential Opponents (clubs that will be unranked)
Below are a list of some of the opponents that Maccabi could face in each of the rounds should they also advance against “inferior” rivals during the earlier rounds of the qualification phase.
Round 1: Ujpest (Hungary), Shamrock Rovers (Ireland), Tallinna FCI Levadia (Estonia), Partizani Tirana (Albania).
Round 2: Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus), Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia), Viitorul (Romania), AIK Solana (Sweden), Aberdeen (Scotland), Glasgow Rangers (Scotland).
Round 3: Istanbul Başakşehir (Turkey), Vitsa (Netherlands), Dundalk (Ireland), Brondby (Denmark), Hajduk Split (Croatia) and Lech Poznan (Poland).
Playoff Round (if Maccabi is ranked): RB Leipzig (Germany), Burnley (England), Atalanta (Italy), Bordeaux (France)
