Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Hamrun Spartans 2-1 this evening (Tuesday) in the first of a two leafed tie in the Europa League qualifying round. After the match, both goal scorers summed up the first of the two encounters.

Roy Revivo whose 79th minute goal canceled Hamrun’s lead which was scored in the 71st minute spoke of the team’s performance:
“I don’t think their penalty was what woke us up. We need to come into the game more focused and more prepared right from the start. But that is football, sometimes you just need to find a way to win.”

The 22-year-old left-back described his goal:
“I tried to block for Dor (Turgeman) and felt I needed to drop back as the ball fell to my feet. I was ready, and thank God I scored.”

To sum things up Revivo highlighted the fact the job isn’t done yet:
“It was a tough match in every sense. Like I said, sometimes you just have to win against all odds. Always believe, that’s all.”

Elad Madmon, who scored the winning goal, shared his thoughts at the final whistle: “It doesn’t really matter, we came here to do a job. We didn’t do it all that well, and there’s a lot to improve. We will analyze everything and see how we can come more prepared for the next game. We haven’t advanced yet, and we’ll have to give everything.”

The forward, who also scored a dramatic goal in the first leg against Pafos, spoke about the opportunity he nissed in the return leg against the Cypriots: “It stayed with me. I’m very self-critical. With things like that, you have to lift your head and believe you’ll get another chance. Because I didn’t put my head down, it came, and I gave the team a breather ahead of the next match.”

On tonight’s winning goal, he added: “I think all three of us knew exactly what the move would be the moment we got the ball. The chemistry between the three of us is really strong, we’re good friends, and each of us believes in the others. When we reached the final minutes, we believed we were going to win, no matter what.”

Madman then shared what makes this team special: “There are a lot of special things about this team, especially the dressing room, which is really united. As long as we stay together, we can do anything. We need to keep going and not stop.”

Preview:

Maccabi Tel Aviv arrived at the Tony Bezzina stadium in Paola for the first leg of the Europa League 3rd qualifying round against Hamrun Spartans of Malta.
Ten years after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Maltese side Hibernians in the Champions League 2nd qualifying round first leg at this exact venue, Maccabi, will aim to leave a different impression. Maccabi’s captain Dor Peretz who was an unused substitute in that match, is the only survivor of Slavisa Jokanovic’s 2015/16 squad that won the return leg at Bloomfield 5-1 on the way to the Champions League group stages. Maccabi’s Head Coach, Zarko Lazetic, made several changes from the starting line-up that was beaten 1-0 by Pafos in Serbia last week that ended this season’s Champions League hopes, as he aims to guide the side to the Europa League phase.

Roi Mishapti, who was one of three keepers to feature for Maccabi last week started in goal. With Yoav Gerafi is recovering from his hamstring injury and Ofek Melika serving his one-match touchline ban, young Shalev Sa’adya and Idan Trau were named as the two substitute keepers on the bench. Mohamed Ali Camara and Nemanja Stojic lined up as the two central defenders in front of Mishpati while Tyrese Asante and Roy Revivo completed Maccabi’s defensive line on the right and left respectively.

Issouf Sissokho in the anchorman role was joined by Ido Shahar with Dor Peretz led the team out with the captain’s armband to form a strong midfield trio. Sagiv Jehezkel started on one flank and Weslley Patati on the other with Ion Nicolauescu making his official debut start in Yellow and Blue.

On the bench alongside goalkeeper Saadya and Trau, Lazetic named Heitor, Dor Turgeman, Raz Shlomo, Denny Gropper, Younas Malede, Elad Madmon, Noam Ben Harush, Ben Lederman, Itamar Noy and Osher Davida.

First Half

Hamrun Spartans gave Maccabi an early scare as N’Dri Phillippe Koffi headed a corner which narrowly missed the target inside the first two minutes. Four minutes later Weslley Patati carved the Maltese defense open as he released Sagiv Jehezkel with a long diagonal ball. Jehezkel burst forward but his attempt to clip the ball over the advancing keeper from close range sailed wide of the post. Ion Nicolaescu was cautioned by Estonian referee Kristo Tohver for a tussle with an opponent over possession leaving the Moldovan striker bewildered. Hamrun continued to look dangerous from set pieces as Eder and Saliou both flashed headers across the face of Roi Mishpati’s goal. Issouf Sissokho’s last gasp tackle managed to deny Hamrun a good chance after a confusion in Maccabi’s defense. At the opposite end, Roy Revivo came close on 22 as he dribbled into the box before shooting past goalkeeper Henry Bonello but a Hamrun defender cleared off his line.

Second Half

With no goals before the break, Lazetic made a change as Elad Madmon replaced Ido Shahar at the restart.

Sissokho was also cautioned for a foul on Thioune that stopped a Hamrun counter attack in the 53rd minute.

Right on the hour mark Camara lost his footing just inside Maccabi’s half conceding possession Joseph Mbong who charged foreard. But Mishpati rescued Maccabi from conceding as he managed to block the Hamrun striker to keep his goal locked. Lazetic reacted with another substitution as Osher Davida and Dor Turgeman came on for Jehezkel and Nicolaescu on 63.

Four minutes later Hamrun came even closer as Maccabi’s defense cleared a corner into the path of Koffi who flashed a shot wide. In the 70th minute the hosts were awarded a penalty after Thioune was fouled in the box. Koffi stepped up sent Mishpati the wrong way to give Hamrun the lead in the 71st minute. Patati tried his luck from outside the box two minutes later but his effort sailed high and wide.

Maccabi were back on level terms in the 79th minute as a Davida corner fell to Roy Revivo. The talented left back kept his calm, chested the ball and slotted his shot home. The equalizer gave Maccabi a new lifeline as Dor Peretz headed a Revivo cross wide on 81.

Lazetic made his final two changes as Itamar Noy and Raz Shlomo came on for Camara and Patati for the closing stages. Noy added some bite into the midfield as he won the ball and slipped it to Peretz who shot over the crossbar.

nside injury time Maccabi snatched the winner as Revivo fed Turgeman who flicked it to Madmon. With only the keeper to beat, Madmon buried the ball in the bottom corner to celebrate another injury time goal.

Maccabi’s European campaign continues, as today (Monday) the team departed for Malta ahead of the Europa League 3rd qualifying round 1st leg away to Hamrun Spartans at the Tony Bezzina stadium in Paola.

Before their departure, the team held a press conference and training session at the Kiryat Shalom complex. The team then proceeded to Ben Gurion Airport, where they bordered a chartered flight to Malta.

Ahead of the vital match, Maccabi’s Head Coach, Zarko Lazetic spoke at a Press Conference this morning and said:
“‘Favorites’ is just a word. They are the champions of Malta. We have great respect, especially for a national champion, no matter which country they are from. They beat Zalgiris, who are also champions, and also played against Dynamo Kiev, who are a

strong opponent. We know what we need to do, and we will give it our best.”
“They have a very interesting team. They try to exploit space and even caused Dynamo Kiev problems in the first leg. We need to be smart. In many ways, they are similar to Pafos. We analyzed them well and will need to be especially smart with the ball in order to find solutions and stay focused. This is a challenge.”

Following today’s draw for the Playoffs, both clubs know that the winner of this tie will face the loser in the Champions League 3rd qualifying round tie between Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) and Pafos (Cyprus).

The UEFA Europa League playoff matches will take place on August 21st and 28th.

The UEFA Conference League Playoff draw also took place. The loser of the tie  between Maccabi and Hamrun Spartans will face the loser of the match between RFS Riga (Latvia) and KuPS Kupio (Finland).

The UEFA Conference League playoff matches are also scheduled for August 21st and 28th.

Idan Nachmias will be leaving Maccabi Tel Aviv after four successful seasons in Yellow and Blue, during which he won 5 trophies.

The 28-year-old defender, who joined Maccabi in the summer 2021 scored 8 goals in 107 appearances in all competitions won 5 titles: 2 league Championships (23/24, and 24/25), 2 Toto Cups (23/24, and 24/25), and 1 Super Cup (24/25).

Nachmias also featured in European competitions, reaching the Europa League group stage once (24/25), the Conference League group stage twice (21/22 and 23/24), the Round of 32 once, and the Round of 16 once.

On the international stage, Nachmias made 13 appearances for the Israel national team, in addition to two goals in a total of 26 appearances for the U21’s, U19’s and U17’s teams.

Thank you, Idan, for all you have done at Maccabi and good luck in your future endeavors.

Preview

A week after the 1-1 draw against Pafos in Limassol, Maccabi arrived at Backa Topola’s TSC Arena ahead of the Champions League 2nd qualifying round return leg. Zarko Lazetic and his coaching staff returned to the stadium where he coached local side TSC Backa Topola for a couple of seasons before joining Maccabi last summer. Maccabi, for their part, returned to the stadium they hosted the successful Conference League campaign of the 2023/24 season.

Lazetic, kept the same side that started the match in Limassol as Nemanja Stojic who also played for TSC under the Serbian coach, partnered Mohamed Ali Camara at the heart of defense. Tyrese Asante on the right and Roy Revivo whose injury time assist to Elad Madmon in Cyprus led to Maccabi’s equalizer completed the defensive line in front of goalkeeper Yoav Gerafi. Issouf Sissokho and Ben Lederman kept their place in Maccabi’s engine room while Dor Peretz led the team out with the captain’s armband at the top of the midfield trio. Weslley Patati who had his family in the stands for the second match in succession, started on one flank while Osher Davida played as the second wide player . Dor Turgeman continued to lead Maccabi’s attack seeking to score his first goal of the 2025/26 campaign. On the bench alongside goalkeepers Ofek Melika and Roi Mishpati, Lazetic named Heitor, Sagiv Jehezkel, Raz Shlomo, Denny Gropper, Elad Madmon, Noam Ben Harush, Itamar Noy, Ido Shahar, Itay Ben Hemo and Ion Nicolaescu who all waited for their chance to make an impact.

First Half

The visitors dominated the opening stages while Maccabi struggled to get into the game and conceded a couple of early corners which goalkeeper Yoav Gerafi managed to punch away. In the 10th minute however Gerafi went down inside the penalty box clutching his hamstring after a clearance as Maccabi’s medical treatment rushed to treat him. Gerafi limped off and was replaced by young Ofek Melika who couldn’t have asked for a bigger night to make his European debut. Seven minutes later, Maccabi had the ball in the back of the net as Ben Lederman released Patati whose square pass was swept in from close range by Dor Peretz. Maccabi’s celebrations were muted by the referee assistant who raised his flag for offside, as even a lengthy check by VAR didn’t change the initial decision.

In the 24th minute Osher Davida who tormented his full back down the right flank, cut inside and had his shot saved by goalkeeper Neofytos Michael. Issouf Sissokho pounced on the rebound yet had his effort blocked by the Pafos defense. Five minutes later Melika caught an Ivan Sunjic header following a cross by Mislav Orsic. A minute later however, the young keeper charged out of his box to try and block Anderson who was clear through. The keeper slid in and brought the Pafos forward down while Romanian referee Radu Petrescu didn’t hesitate as he showed him the red card.

The freak chain of events forced Zarko Lazetic to introduce a 3rd keeper in the space of 30 minutes as Roi Mishpati came on with Dor Turgeman coming off to make way for the veteran custodian. In the 40th minute Pafos exploited their numerical advantage as Jaja received the ball from Bruno, cut onto his left and curled a shot into the top corner giving Mishpati no chance. On the stroke of halftime, a last gasp Sissokho tackle rescued Maccabi from conceding a second as the Mali midfielder managed to block Orsic who chested the ball down before blasting a shot which was making its way in.

The freak chain of events forced Zarko Lazetic to introduce a 3rd keeper in the space of 30 minutes as Roi Mishpati came on with Dor Turgeman coming off to make way for the veteran custodian. In the 39th minute Pafos exploited their numerical advantage as Jaja received the ball from Bruno, cut onto his left and curled a shot into the top corner giving Mishpati no chance. On the stroke of halftime a last gasp Sissokho tackle rescued Maccabi from conceding a second as the Mali midfielder managed to block Orsic who chested the ball down before blasting a shot which was making its way in.

Second Half

With no changes to either side at the interval, the second half began just like the previous one with Pafos enjoying most of the possession. A Nemanja Stojic goalmouth clearance saw the Serbian defender head the ball off his line when Mishpati was beaten. Ali Camara was booked on 56 for a mistimed tackle on a Pafos player. A minute before the hour mark Roy Revivo found Weslley Patati as the Brazilian winger shrugged off Bruno, but his shot didn’t trouble Michael who collected with ease.

Lazetic made three changes in the 74th minute as Raz Shlomo, Sagiv Jehezkel and Elad Madmon replaced Camara, Ben Lederman and Davida. Maccabi came inches away from scoring an equalizer on 79 as Revivo’s pinpoint cross found Jehezkel unmarked at the far post. Jehezkel headed the ball across the face of the goal into the path of Madmon, but the forward who scored the equalizer last week couldn’t make contact and edge the ball home.

Jehezkel was given the time and space to float in a cross on 87 which was met by a Peretz header that crept agonizingly wide of the post. The full-time whistle confirmed Pafos advance through while Maccabi will continue in the Europa League as they face Hamrun Spartans of Malta on August 5th before hosting the return leg at the TSC Arena on August 14th.