Maccabi Tel Aviv are in the group stages once again and guaranteed to play European football until the winter as today’s inaugural Conference League Group stage draw determined the opponents the team will face over the coming months. The draw which took place in Istanbul saw Maccabi drawn against Austrian outfit Lask Linz, Alashkert of Armenia and Finland’s HJK Helsinki.

Maccabi’s coach Patrick van Leeuwen said after the draw: “I think we were drawn into a very interesting group. We receive opponents from countries different to the ones we played against in Europe last season and also opponents who are at the same level as Maccabi which will make it very interesting to play them in the coming months. If we look at our opponents, they all qualified to the group stages and proved they deserve their place on merit. We will do everything possible in order to get the best results in every game and begin analysing them an prepare to face them”.

Ahead of Sunday’s League opener away to Bnei Sachnin, Van Leeuwen added: “We are preparing to play an important match in Sachnin that kicks off our domestic league season. All our focus at the moment is on Sunday’s game as we will come prepared to open a new campaign”.

The opponents

LASK was the team drawn from Pot A as the Austrian club which comes from the city of Linz finished fourth in last season’s Austrian top flight to earn a place in the Conference League. This season LASK began their European campaign by knocking out Serbia’s Vojvodina (7-1 on aggregate) and Scottish outfit St Johsntone (3-1 on aggregate). This is the third time in succession the Austrian club reaches the group stages as the two seasons ago they advanced to the Europa League round of 16 where they were eliminated by Manchester United. LASK played five league matches so far this season and are ranked in sixth place with six points.

Armenian Champions Alashkert became the first club to represent their country at a European group stage. Alashkert which originates from the capital of Yerevan, reached the Conference League group stage after starting their campaign in the qualifying phase of the Europa League where they reached the Playoff stage after knocking out Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan. Alashkert were beaten 1-0 by Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers to drop directly into the Conference League group stages.
The Armenian outfit has no less than 14 foreign players, but in terms of the domestic season Alashkert had an indifferent start to the season with 1 point from the first three league matches.

Maccabi met HJK Helsinki in the 2004/05 Champions League qualifying campaign on the way to a first appearance in the group stage. The Finnish outfit is the leading club in their country and arrive as the Champions of Finland.
Helsinki began their European campaign in the Champions League qualifying stages and were eliminated in the 2^nd round by Malmo. HJK then met Nefci Baku in the 3^rd qualifying round of the Europa League and after a 5-2 aggregate victory advanced to the Playoffs but were eliminated by Turkish giants Fenerbahce (6-2) to reach the Conference League group stages. Similar to most Scandinavian clubs, the Finnish League is well underway as after 17 rounds Helsinki are currently ranked top with a significant gap from second place.

Group A: LASK (AUT), Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR), Alashkert FC (ARM), HJK Helsinki (FIN).

Group B: Gent (BEL), FK Partizan Belgrade (SRB), Flora Tallinn (EST), Anorthosis Famagusta FC (CYP).

Group C: AS Roma (ITA), FC Zorya Luhansk (UKR), PFC CSKA-Sofia (BUL), FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR).

Group D: AZ Alkmaar (NED), CFR Cluj (ROU), FK Jablonec (CZE), Randers FC (DEN).

Group E: Slavia Prague (CZE), Feyenoord Rotterdam (NED), FC Union Berlin (GER), Maccabi Haifa (ISR)

Group F: FC Copenhagen (DEN), PAOK Thessaloniki (GRE), SK Slovan Bratislava (SVK), Lincoln Red Imps (GIB).

Group G: Tottenham Hotspur (ENG), Stade Rennes FC (FRA), Vitesse (NED), NS Mura (SVN).

Group H: FC Basel 1893 (SUI), Qarabağ FK (AZE), Kairat Almaty (KAZ), Omonoia FC (CYP)

How does the group stage work?

Teams in every group face each other home and away, with the same pairs of sides meeting on Matchdays 1 & 5, or Matchdays 2 & 6, or Matchdays 3 & 4.

The top two teams from each group will continue their European campaigns into the new year with the Group winners progress to the round of 16.

Teams that  finish in the runners-up spot go into the knockout round play-offs, where they will be joined by the teams finishing third in the Europa League groups.

 

On his current form, the combative midfielder added: “I am aware that I must improve and contribute more in terms of numbers. I feel that my teammates and the fans would like me to shoot and score more. The feeling, when the ball hit the back of the net was amazing”.

On qualification to the group stage, Glazer added: “It is very important as Maccabi now reached the group stages for the 7th time in 10 seasons. We are happy now but will try stretch this momentum to the league as well. Tonight was only the beginning”.

Maccabi Tel Aviv arrived at Bloomfield stadium knowing that anything besides a shocking upset would deny them a seventh appearance in a European group stage, as they host Shakhter Karagandy of Kazakhstan for the Conference League Playoff return leg. The 2-1 victory in last week’s first leg in Kazakhstan has but all secured Maccabi’s passage into the inaugural Conference League group stage. Patrick van Leeuwen included his two new signings Stipe Perica and Dan Biton in his squad yet kept the duo on the bench alongside Daniel Tenenbaum who returned to the squad after recovering from a back injury and COVID.

With Daniel Peretz in goal, van Leeuwen didn’t make a single change from the side that played in Kazakhstan as Idan Nachmias partnered Louis Hernandez at the heart of defence and together with Andre Geraldes and Enric Saborit, completed the back four.
The midfield trio remained unchanged as Sheran Yeini led the team out with the captain’s armband as he lined-up alongside Dan Glazer and Avi Rikan who scored the equaliser at the Astana Arena. Upfront, Eduardo Guerrero, Tal Ben Chaim and Osama Khalaila all kept their places to lead the attack in a bid to guide Maccabi to a seventh appearance in a European group stages in 10 years.

First Half

Maccabi began the match at Bloomfield in the same way in which they played the first leg in Kazakhstan – dominating the play in an attempt to break through Shakhter’s bolstered defence. In the 12th minute they seemed to have done so as Tal Ben Chaim released Enric Saborit into the area. The Spanish left back charged forward before trying to lift the ball over Igor Shatskiy only to see it land on the roof of the net. Eduardo Guerrero had his claims for a penalty waved by referee Nikola Dabanovic after being tripped in the area by a Shakhter defender. But in the 18th minut the deadlock was finally broken as Idan Nachmias rose high to head Ben Chaim’s pinpoint corner past Shatskiy for his debut Maccabi goal.

Avi Rikan tested Shatskiy with a powerful drive from the edge of the area which the visiting keeper could only punch out on 24.

Maccabi tried attacking Shakhter from the wings as Ben Chaim’s crosses from the left caused the visitors all sorts of problems. In the 40th minute a Ben Chaim cross that was punched by Shatskiy fell to Dan Glazer whose half-volley from the edge of the area beat the keeper to double the score.

Second Half

Right on the hour mark van Leeuwen made a triple change as Matan Hozez replaced Ben Chaim, Sheran Yeini bowed out and was replaced by Eden Shamir, while Osama Khalaila came off allowing Stipe Perica to make a 30-minute debut.

Two minutes later, Nachmias needed treatment and was replaced by Matan Baltaxa at the heart of defence. Dan Biton became Maccabi’s fifth substitute in the night as he made his renewed debut at Maccabi replacing Guerrero on 78.

Daniel Peretz was forced to stretch himself for the first time to push out a Yeskendir Kybyaray header following an Edin Rustemovic cross on 83. A minute later, Biton raced three quarters of the length of the pitch before teeing up Rikan whose shot went wide.

Maccabi Tel Aviv will host Shakhter Karagandy at Bloomfield (20:30) leading by 2-1 from last week’s first leg in Kazakhstan and aiming to complete the task by qualifying to the Conference League group stages. Maccabi’s midfielder, Dan Glazer, spoke at the pre-match press conference about the preparations for the game: “We have a good result from last weeke’s first leg as we managed to bring the decider back to Bloomfield”.

The 24-year-old still has a vivid memory of the second half two-minute comeback at the Astana Arena: “It was proven here last season and in the previous years that this is a team that has a very strong character. The goal we conceded woke us up and reminded us we need to always remain focused. At this stage of the competition one has to get the results in addition to improving our form. We will show better ability in the future – I have no doubt about it.

With growing numbers of people in Israel being infected in COVID and the threat of football being played behind closed doors, Glazer added: “Let me use the opportunity to ask the fans to be responsible and follow the instructions of the Health Ministry. Once in the stadium, wear a mask at all times. The last match I sat in the stands, it was not comfortable or pleasant but still – let us make sure that fans remain in the stadium so we don’t go back to the dark age of matches behind closed doors”.