The Conference League Playoff round draw which took place at UEFA’s Headquarters in Nyon, teamed Maccabi up with potential opponents from either Ukraine or Kazakhstan.

The winner of the tie between Ukrainian outfit Kolos Kovalivka and FC Shakhtar Karagandy of Kazakhstan will await the outcome of Maccabi’s 3rd qualifying round tie against Spartak Trnava.

August 5^th: Spartak Trnava vs Maccabi Tel Aviv. (Štadión Antona Malatinského, 21:15).

After advancing past Sutjeska of Montenegro, Maccabi’s Conference League 3^rd qualifying round opponents are Spartak Trnava that needed a penalty shoot-out in Thursday’s return leg to overcome Romanian outfit Sepsi. The Slovakian’s host Maccabi at the relatively new stadium which was opened in 2013, but the match will be behind closed doors after UEFA sanctioned UEFA for Trnava for racist behavior of their fans.

August 12^th: Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Spartak Trnava, (Bloomfield stadium, 20:30).

A week after the first match in Slovakia, Maccabi will host the return leg at Bloomfield stadium.

August 19^th: Conference League Playoff 1^st leg

Should Maccabi advance past Spartak Trnava, the Conference League Playoff round is set to take place on August 19^th with the return leg a weeks later on August 26^th.

Even before the 3^rd qualifying round first leg with Trnava, on August 2^nd at 15:00 the Playoff round draw takes place at UEFA’s Headquarters in Nyon.

August 21^st – 23^rd Toto Cup match for 5^th and 6^th place.

Following the Super Cup defeat, Maccabi have one more match to play in the Toto Cup that will decide who finishes in 5^th or 6^th spot. The final date to be announced at a later stage with the opponents set to be the team to finish as the best runner-up in the group stages.

August 26^th Conference League Playoff return leg

August 28^th – 29^th Bnei Sachnin vs Maccabi Tel Aviv (Doha stadium).

The 2021/22 season gets underway with the league’s opening match. Maccabi’s first league encounter will feature an away trip to Bnei Sachnin with the final date and kickoff time yet to be announced.

The 23-year-old striker who joined Maccabi in the summer from Sakhnin and celebrated his debut home appearance at Bloomfield, said: “I prepared myself for a move to a big club as it was important for me to join Maccabi more than any other team. Maccabi conducts itself with players better than any other club in Israel. It was important for me to come here, succeed and help the team. I am enjoying myself here. I struggled a bit in the beginning, but now I have settled and hope that together we will be as successful as possible”.

On his work rate on the pitch: “Every time I get a chance to play I give my maximum. My job is to score goals and with god’s help I will continue exactly in this manner”.

Maccabi now face Spartak Trnava in the third qualifying round as the Slovakian side that hosted next week’s first leg, beat Rumanian outfit Sepsi in a penalty shoot-out.

Pregame

Maccabi returned to Bloomfield stadium for the return leg of their Conference League second qualifying round against Sutjeska, knowing that only a victory will see them through to the next stage and continue the European journey.

With a 0-0 draw from the first leg in Montenegro, Patrick van Leeuwen’s side were aiming not only to advance but also to put behind them Sunday’s 2-0 Super Cup defeat which would give the fans a lift.

Enric Saborit and Matan Baltaxa returned to defense at left back and center-back respectively as they both joined Louis Hernandez and Andre Geraldes to complete the back four. Dan Glazer returned to the anchorman role in midfield replacing Eden Karzev who was serving a one-match touchline ban due to his dismissal in Podgorica. Shahar Piven and Avi Rikan completed van Leeuwen’s midfield trio supporting the attack of Yonatan Cohen, Eduardo Guerrero and Osama Khalaila.

First Half

The hot and very humid weather conditions so both teams struggle at the the beginning of the game as none of the keepers were put under threat.

In the 25th minute however, the deadlock was finally broken by Osama Khaliala who celebrated his home debut by heading in Yonatan Cohen’s corner.

Three minutes later Eduardo Guerrero came close to double the score he was sent clear through by Avi Rikan only to see his low shot blocked by the feet of goalkeeper Vladan Giljen. Right on the half hour mark, Khalaila almost turned provider as he teed-up Shahar Piven but the midfielder who only had the keeper to beat sent a weak shot that was collected with ease. Out of nowhere the Montenegrin side almost grabbed an equaliser as a mis-timed Enric Saborit tackle allowed Marko Vukovic to break into Maccabi’s box before firing a right foot shot against Daniel Peretz’s post. But in the 33rd minute Maccabi managed to double their lead in style at the end of a team effort that resulted with Khalaila blasting in his second to make it 2-0.

Second Half

Two minutes before the interval Avi Rikan had a shot on goal that cleared the crossbar as the halftime whistle sent both teams to refresh themselves in the dressing rooms. The second half began where the first one left off as Saborit charged half the length of the pitch and released Cohen who should have scored Maccabi’s third but instead opted for power rather than accuracy and blasted the ball into the stands. Mistakes get punished in football as the Montenegrin side cut the deficit in the 50th minute with a Vladan Bubanja header that deflected off a Maccabi defender to make it 2-1 on 51.

Van Leeuwen made his first change four minutes later as Matan Hozez replaced Cohen and in the space of one minute Guerrero forced the Montenegrin keeper to make two saves. Ofir Davidzada replaced Saborit and Ido Shahar came on for Rikan as Van Leeuwen handed the diminutive midfielder his home debut in the 60th minute. Five minutes later and after good work by Guerrero, Hozez, with the goal at his mercy, somehow managed to hook his shot over the crossbar.

Van Leeuwen made his final two substitutions in the 77th minute as Eylon Almog and Tal Ben Chaim replaced the tireless Guerrero and Khalaila who bowed out to a standing ovation.

In the 86th minute Almog was given a chance to seal the victory after good work from Hozez down the right wing, but the young forward didn’t manage to beat the keeper with his right foot shot from the edge of the area.

Inside injury time however, Shahar stole the ball deep inside Sutjeska’s half and sent Almog who needed two attempts to beat the keeper, secure the victory and Maccabi’s passage to the next stage.

With a 0-0 draw from the first leg in Montenegro, the tie will be decided at Bloomfield stadium as Maccabi Tel Aviv host Sutjeska of Montenegro for the Conference League 2^nd qualifying round (20:30).

Maccabi’s plans received a twist in Podgorica last week following the dismissal of Eden Karzev for two bookable offences which left the side with 10 men for the majority of the second half. Despite the numerical disadvantage, Patrick van Leeuwen’s side managed to keep a clean sheet and will try complete the job in front of the home fans.

This will be the first European match Bloomfield will stage with fans since the Champions League Playoff 1-1 draw against Basel that secured qualification  to the group stage back in 2015/16. With Maccabi hosting the Champions League group stage at Sammy Ofer, the refurbishment at Bloomfield that led to Maccabi relocating for three years to Netanya, and COVID keeping out fans last season – the Jaffa stadium will welcome fans for a European night after 2,165 days.

Some numbers:

Maccabi finished their first leg of a European tie with a draw away from home on 7 occasions.

The first time resulted with a painful Champions League Playoff 1-0 defeat to Grasshoppers Zurich at Bloomfield in the 1995/96 season, after the first leg in Switzerland ended in a 1-1 draw.

Since that tie, Maccabi advanced through in all of its’ 6 home legs that followed draws away from home: Dynamo Zagreb (2001/02), HJK Helsinki (2004/05), FC Basel (2015/16), Kairat Almaty (2016/17), Ferencvaros and Pyunik Yerevan (2018/19).

In 12 of the 21 seasons Maccabi played European qualifiers in July – they were never knocked out during that month.

“We will approach this game in a manner that you will see an aggressive Maccabi Tel Aviv that knows what we want from ourselves. We will try score an early goal and bring our aggression to the field with tackles and heart. The most important thing is to win the match and advance to the next stage”