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.
