Maccabi Tel Aviv will start in Champions League Qualifying Round 2 and host the second leg against Astana of Kazakhstan or CFR Cluj of Romania. Astana is seeded in Qualifying Rounds 1 and 2. The draw for Qualifying Round 2 is done before Qualifying Round 1, and Maccabi Tel Aviv his a higher coefficient than CFR Cluj. Bnei Yehuda will start in Europa League Qualifying Round 3. Israel's coefficient fell so much that the 2019-2020 State Cup winner will start in Europa League Qualifying Round 1 unless the Champions League and/or Europa League defending champion spots aren't needed, which would bump it up to Europa League Qualifying Round 2. That might be the first time Israel won't have a club starting either competition after Qualifying Round 1, albeit the worst leagues have clubs in the Preliminary Round. If all the seeded clubs advance (which won't happen), Bnei Yehuda will have the worst coefficient in Europa League Qualifying Round 3 Main Path, and they will certainly be unseeded. "Main Path" means that it is separate from clubs who drop down from Champions League Qualifying Rounds. Maccabi Haifa was seeded in Europa League Qualifying Round 1. They will host the first leg against Mura Murska Sobota of Slovenia. If they advance, they will be unseeded in Europa League Qualifying Round 2, and they will host the second leg against Strasbourg of France, who won the Coupe de la Ligue (League Cup) and finished 11th in Ligue 1. Hapoel Be'er Sheva was seeded in Europa League Qualifying Round 1. They will host the second leg against Laci of Albania. If they advance, they will be seeded in Europa League Qualifying Round 2, and they will host the first leg against Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan (seeded in Europa League Qualifying Round 1) or Siroki Brijeg of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Laci (Albania) 1-1 Hapoel Be'er Sheva Laci scored in the 3rd minute and led most of the game until Gal Levi equalized in the 78th minute. Hapoel Be'er Sheva dominated the statistics including having more shots on goal, 8 to 2. Maccabi Haifa 2-0 Mura Murska Sobota (Slovenia) On Thursday, Hapoel Be'er Sheva hosts at 8:30 P.M. local/1:30 P.M. USA Eastern, and Maccabi Haifa starts 30 minutes later.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 1-0 Laci (2-1 aggregate) The first time I checked, I was disappointed that it was scoreless, but I knew that Hapoel Be'er Sheva could advance on away goals with a scoreless draw. Mura Murska Sobota 2-3 Maccabi Haifa (2-5 aggregate) The first time I check, Maccabi Haifa was down 1-0 and led the aggregate 2-1. Maccabi Haifa went on to win the second leg. Israel was 27th in the country coefficients after 2018-2019. Dropping out 2014-2015 made Israel move up to 22nd because Israel had a horrible 1.375 in 2014-2015. Israel has 0.875 so far this season, with 0.250 each from Hapoel Be'er Sheva's win and each of Maccabi Haifa's wins and 0.125 from Hapoel Be'er Sheva's draw. In qualifying rounds, wins are worth 1 point and draws are worth 0.5 points. That is divided by the amount of clubs the country has competing, which is 4 for Israel and a majority of the countries. Sweden has 1.250 so far in 2019-2020 and passed Israel. Israel is 23rd. Here is the Qualifying Round 2 schedule: Maccabi Tel Aviv in Champions League: Wednesday 24 July at CFR Cluj at 9:00 P.M. in Israel/2:00 P.M. USA Eastern and Tuesday 30 July at home at 8:00 P.M. in Israel/1:00 P.M. USA Eastern Hapoel Be'er Sheva in Europa League: Thursday 25 July hosting Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan at 8:00 P.M. in Israel/1:00 P.M. USA Eastern and Thursday 1 August at Kairat Almaty at 8:00 P.M. in Israel/1:00 P.M. USA Eastern Maccabi Haifa in Europa League: Thursday 25 July at Strasbourg of France at at 8:00 P.M. in Israel/1:00 P.M. USA Eastern and Thursday 1 August hosting Strasbourg at 8:00 P.M. in Israel/1:00 P.M. USA Eastern Rather than the Europa League start times being scattered, most of them are at 8:00 P.M. in Israel/1:00 P.M. USA Eastern. There are 46 matchups, and 31 of the first legs and 35 of the second legs will be on Thursday at 1:00 P.M.
CFR Cluj 1-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv CFR Cluj scored in the 22nd minute with their only shot on goal. Maccabi Tel Aviv had 2 shots on goal and 47 percent of the possession.
Here are who Israeli clubs will face in Qualifying Round 3 if they reach it. They got good draws: Champions League: Maccabi Tel Aviv will host the first leg against Celtic of Scotland or Nomme Kalju of Estonia. Celtic won the first leg 5-0. Even if Maccabi Tel Aviv advances over CFR Cluj, they have no chance against Celtic. Europa League: Hapoel Be'er Sheva will host the second leg against IFK Norrkoping of Sweden or Liepaja of Latvia. Maccabi Haifa will host the second leg against Lokomotiv Plovdiv of Bulgaria or Spartak Trnava of Slovakia. Bnei Yehuda (who starts in Qualifying Round 3) will host the second leg against Arsenal Tula of Russia or Neftci Baku of Azerbaijan. If Maccabi Tel Aviv is eliminated from the Champions League and drops into the Europa League, they will host the first leg against Tre Penne of San Marino or Suduva Marijampole of Lithuania. Suduva won the first leg 5-0.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2-0 Kairat Almaty Safouri Ramzi scored a penalty kick in the 10th minute and Eden Shamir scored in the 63rd minute. When I saw the score was 2-0 in the 82nd minute, I was happy, but I knew that a late goal by Kairat to make it 2-1 could make a big difference. Luckily that didn't happen. Hapoel Be'er Sheva had double the shots on goal, 8 to 4, but other statistics favored Kairat Almaty. Kairat had 52 percent of the possession, more free kicks (18 to 13), more corner kicks (9 to 2), and fewer yellow cards (3 to 4). Strasbourg 3-1 Maccabi Haifa When I saw the score was 1-1, I thought it was good news, but it wasnt. Ayad Habashi got a straight red card for holding in the 44th minute. That led to a 45th minute penalty kick equalizer. There was a lot of stoppage time, and Strasbourg got yellows in the 45+4th and 45+5th minutes. Adrien Thomasson was subbed on at halftime and scored the winning goal in the 47th minute. He assisted on Jonas Martin's goal in the 62nd minute. Surprisingly, Strasbourg didn't dominate possession while up a man. They had 54 percent of the possession in each half, and more shots on goal in the first half (4 to 3). Maccabi Haifa had 3 shots on goal. It was an okay score for an away unseeded club, and they will advance if they win 2-0 at home.
Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-2 CFR Cluj (aggregate 2-3) Maccabi Tel Aviv scored the first goal, trailed 2-1 at halftime and scored the only goal of the second half. They got 0.500 coefficient points from the draw, which is 0.500/4 = 0.125 for Israel. They will host the first leg of Europa League Qualifying Round 3 against Suduva Marijampole of Lithuania, who beat Tre Penne 5-0 in each leg. Today at home, Suduva had more shots (26 to 3) and more shots on target (13 to 0). Most Europa League games are on Thursdays, but that was today.
Maccabi Haifa 2-1 Strasbourg (3-4 aggregate) Strasbourg scored first. Maccabi Haifa came back to get a coefficient point for winning the game, but were eliminated. Kairat Almaty 1-1 Hapoel Be'er Sheva Rade Dugalic scored both goals. He gave Kairat Almaty the lead in the 40th minute and scored an own goal in the 63rd minute. The possession was close with Kairat Almaty having 52 percent, but they had more shots than Hapoel Be'er Sheva (5 to 8), more shots on goal or saved or blocked but not missed (18 to 6), and more shots on goal (8 to 4). They dominated the corner kicks with 13 to 5. They had more fouls, and Hapoel Be'er Sheva dominated the free kicks with 22 to 13. In addition to the fouls, Kairat Almaty had more yellow cards (9 to 2). Those 9 include second yellows in the 55th and 90+6th minutes. In the 88th minute, Kairat Almaty had a player on the bench get a straight red. Adding corner kicks and free kicks, Hapoel Be'er Sheva had 1 more (27 to 26). Hapoel Be'er Sheva will host the second leg against IFK Norrkoping of Sweden, who won their aggregate 3-0. Bnei Yehuda will host the second leg against Neftci Baku of Azerbaijan, who won their aggregate 4-0. Maccabi Tel Aviv will host the first leg against Suduva Marijampole of Lithuania, who won their aggregate 10-0 with two 5-0 wins over Tre Penne of San Marino. Most of the games are Thursdays August 8 and 15 at 1:00 P.M. USA Eastern, which is 8:00 P.M. in Israel. Maccabi Tel Aviv's first leg on August 8 will start 30 minutes later.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva got Jimmy Marin, who is 21 and played in the Concacaf Champions League for Herediano. He played for Belen before that and Saprissa before that. He's Costa Rican, and those three clubs are Costa Rican.
Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-2 Suduva Marijampole of Lithuania Maccabi Tel Aviv had 64 percent of the possession and more shots on goal, 5-3. Each club had 18 combined corner kicks and free kicks. That was a bad loss. Maccabi Tel Aviv had a 16.000 coefficient, and Suduva Marijampole had a 4.250. Norrkoping of Sweden 1-1 Hapoel Be'er Sheva Norrkoping scored in the 51st minute and Hapoel Be'er Sheva equalized in the 55th minute. Norrkoping had much better statistics. Neftci Baku of Azerbaijan 2-2 Bnei Yehuda Bnei Yehuda blew a 2-0 lead as Neftci Baku equalized in the 90+7th minute. Neftci Baku had 61 percent of the possession and much more shots, 18 to 7. Neftci Baku had more shots on goal, 4 to 2, and Neftci Baku didn't make any saves. Neftci Baku had more combined corner kicks and free kicks, 26 to 11. Israel has a 1.875 so far this season which is in a three-way tie for 20th. They are 23rd in the five season sum. If they reach the Europa League Playoff Round: Maccabi Tel Aviv will host the first leg against Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia or Ferencvaros of Hungary. Dinamo Zagreb has a much better coefficient, but they only got a 1-1 draw hosting Ferencvaros. In the 2018-2019 Champions League Qualifying Round 2, Dinamo Zagreb won 5-0 hosting Hapoel Be'er Sheva and got a 2-2 draw in Israel for a 7-2 aggregate. Hapoel Be'er Sheva will host the second leg against Feyenoord of Netherlands or Dinamo Tbilisi of Georgia. Feyenoord hosted the first leg and won 4-0. Bnei Yehuda will host the second leg against Malmo FF of Sweden or Zrinjski Mostar of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Suduva Marijampole of Lithuania 2-1 Maccabi Tel Aviv (4-2 aggregate) Suduva scored in the 12th minute, and their 45th minute goal gave them a 3 goal aggregate lead. Nick Blackman scored in the 86th minute. Yonatan Cohen got ejected for a second yellow in the 90+4th minute. Both legs had the same score. Maccabi Tel Aviv had 59 percent of the possession and more shots, 19 to 2!. Shots on goal were 4 to 2, and Maccabi Tel Aviv didn't make any saves. Hapoel Be'er Sheva 3-1 Norrkoping of Sweden (5-3 aggregate) It was scoreless for about three-quarters of the game (which would have advanced Hapoel Be'er Sheva on away goals) until Hapoel Be'er Sheva scored in the 67th and 72nd minutes. Norrkoping scored in the 82nd minute, and they would have sent the game to extra time if today was 2-2. Niv Zrihan scored his second goal in the 90+4th minute. Hapoel Be'er Sheva had 51 percent of the possession, more shots (14 to 11), and more shots on goal (6 to 4). I don't know how attacks are defined, but Norrkoping had more attacks (120 to 111) and over 50 percent more dangerous attacks (88 to 58). With 146 "dangerous attacks" in 90 minutes, how dangerous could they be? Bnei Yehuda 2-1 Neftci Baku of Azerbaijan (4-3 aggregate) Bnei Yehuda scored in the 15th minute and led the rest of the game. They scored in the 66th. Neftci Baku got a penalty kick in the 90+3rd minute to avoid being shut out, but Bnei Yehuda won the game and aggregate. Neftci Baku had 56 percent of the possesion, more shots (10 to 7), more attacks (152 to 101), and way more dangerous attacks (102 to 53). Bnei Yehuda had more shots on goal, 4 to 3, and both clubs made 2 saves. Bnei Yehuda had 3 more free kicks and Neftci Baku had 3 more corner kicks for a total of 14 each. Fouls were tied at 8, so Bnei Yehuda had more free kicks that didn't come from fouls. Neither club who advanced made me confident about the Playoff Round, and Israel will have a lower country coefficient than their average if neither club reaches the Group Stage. Here are the matchups and club coefficients. Hapoel Be'er Sheva (12.000) will host the secpnd leg against Feyenoord of the Netherlands (22.000). Bnei Yehuda (3.725) will host the second leg against Malmo FF of Sweden (20.000). Among the 13 seeded clubs, Feyenoord is ninth, and Malmo FF is eleventh, so those opponents and having both second legs in Israel is a good draw. Entering today, Israel was 23rd in the country coefficients. They were 1.000 behind Sweden in 22nd, and it helped that Hapoel Be'er Sheva eliminated Norrkoping. Sweden had AIK draw and advance and Malmo FF lose and advance. Israel gained 0.375 today to move 0.625 behind Sweden. Since AIK has to face Celtic, if Bnei Yehuda advances then Sweden probably won't have any clubs reach the Group Stage.
Both Israeli clubs lost 3-0 away. Israel will probably have a country coefficient under 3 for the third time in five seasons.
Bnei Yehuda 0-1 Malmo FF of Sweden (0-4 aggregate) Hapoel Be'er Sheva 0-3 Feyenoord of the Netherlands (0-6 aggregate) Hapoel Be'er Sheva got a straight red card in the 41st minute, and Feyenoord scored their first goal in the 46th minute. Israel finished the season with a 2.375 coefficient. Israel moved up from 27th to 23rd because the 1.375 from 2014-2015 dropped out, and even if other countries pass Israel, Israel will still be better than 27th. Israel has been under 3.000 in four of the last six seasons after being above 3.000 in the previous five seasons, which were the first five seasons of the current Champions League qualifying format and with the name Europa League used.