Maccabi Haifa is trying to become the first Israeli club to reach the Champions League Group Stage three times. https://www.paramountplus.com/live-tv/stream/uefa-champions-league/WgzOuDwDm5i13ieAm7oSymy0Y_vF2iz4/ has video for people who pay for Paramount Plus. In the only Europa Conference League Playoff Round game before Thursday, APOEL Nicosia won 3-2 hosting Djurgarden of Sweden. Djurgarden won the first leg 3-0 and won the aggregate 5-3. Cyprus went from 0.375 to 0.175 behind Israel. Cyprus has 3 of 5 clubs left, and all of them are in the Europa League Playoff Round and guaranteed to reach a Group Stage. When APOEL Nicosia led 2-0, I was worried they would come back and advance, but they did not. They have a 18.000 coefficient to Djurgarden's 4.575, so it was surprising that APOEL Nicosia was eliminated. They used to have a higher coefficient, and they once reached the Champions League Quarterfinals.
Crvena Zvezda 2-2 Maccabi Haifa (Maccabi Haifa won aggregate 5-4) Crvena Zvezda scored in the 27th to tie the aggregate, and in the 43rd to take the aggregate lead. Maccabi Haifa responded by earning a penalty kick in the 45+4th minute. It was saved, and Daniel Sundgren scored the rebound in the 45+5th. Sundgren is a defender who scored one goal in his last 73 games in the Greek Super League. I watched the end, and Crvena Zvezda got a yellow card for a foul with studs up in the 89th. It looked like the referee would play the advantage, but he stopped play. Maccabi Haifa took a free kick, and in the 90th it made an own goal by Milan Pavkov, who was subbed on in the 78th. That made the game 2-2 and aggregate 5-4. Crvena Zvezda attacked in stoppage time. They had a shot that Josh Cohen sent out of play to allow a corner kick. One replay made it look like the shot would have gone in if there was not a goalkeeper, and one replay made it look like the shot would have gone wide. Cohen landed and was down, but the referee did not stop play until after Crvena Zvezda had a shot blocked. Three minutes of stoppage time were announced, but there were over seven minutes. Maccabi Haifa blocked another shot, and Crvena Zvezda's final shot went over. The game coverage said Maccabi Haifa had 6 shots on goal, but Flash Score says 7, and I am using Flash Score. When Crvena Zvezda led 1-0, they had better statistics, but not by a ton. It was 2-1 the next time I checked, and halftime statistics were close. Maccabi Haifa dominated the second half statistics with 60 percent of possession, more shots (12 to 4), more shots on goal (4 to 1), and more completed passes (171 to 74). Crvena Zvezda had more combined free kicks and corner kicks, attacks, and dangerous attacks in the second half. Here are the whole game statistics. Maccabi Haifa had 54 percent of possession, 62.5 percent of shots (20 to 12), 58.3 percent of shots on goal (7 to 5), 53.5 percent of combined free kicks and corner kicks (23 to 20), 57.8 percent of passes (384 to 280), 59.6 percent of completed passes (294 to 199), a higher pass completion percentage (294/384 = 76.6 percent to 199/280 = 71.1 percent), and 20 percent of the yellow cards (4 to 1, plus 1 for Maccabi Haifa's coach). Crvena Zvezda had 52.9 percent of attacks (83 to 74), exactly 56.25 percent of dangerous attacks (45 to 35), and a higher percent of attacks that were dangerous (45/83 = 54.2 percent to 35/74 = 47.3 percent). There were no red cards. Each club committed 16 fouls. I am amazed that Maccabi Haifa had better statistics. Maccabi Haifa got 0.5 coefficient points for today's draw, and 4 bonus points for reaching the Champions League Group Stage. That gave Israel 4.5/4 = 1.125 to make 4.125. That is second behind Russia, whose clubs are banned, and who was given 4.333. I do not know how UEFA chose that amount. Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Be'er Sheva need to combine for one win or two draws to pass Russia. Bodo/Glimt won their Champions League Playoff Round first leg 1-0 hosting Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia, and the second leg is tomorrow. If Bodo/Glimt advances and gets 4 bonus points, they could move up to first. Liechtenstein has one club competing, which is Vaduz in the Europa Conference League. They have 3.500, and will have 4.500, 4.000, or 3.500 depending on their second leg. I do not think any countries other than Israel, Russia, Norway, and Liechtenstein could be in first after the Playoff Round. Israel passed Turkey for 20th for the sum of the last four complete seasons and this season so far. Furthermore, next season Israel drops out a low score of 2.625. For the last three complete seasons and this season so far, Israel ranks 14th.
https://www.flashscore.com/match/vi7xxTLl/#/report is titled "Maccabi Haifa get rub of the Green after Red Star howlers." https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsl...lay-offs-benfica-plzen-maccabi-haifa-through/ is titled "Play-offs: Benfica, Plzeň, Maccabi Haifa into group stage."
I watched the highlights. Maccabi Haifa's first goal was shortly after their saved penalty kick, but not on the rebound like I said. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/sports/article-715314 is titled "Reveling in Maccabi Haifa’s European exploits." It was written before yesterday's game. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/sports/article-715211 is titled "Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Beersheba in good shape to advance to UEFA." About last week's Europa Conference League Playoff Round first legs, Nice's coach said “Maccabi Tel Aviv didn’t deserve to win.” I saw Universitatea Craiova's red card against Hapoel Be'er Sheva listed in the 46th minute, but it actually happened as the player were going to their locker rooms for halftime. https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-715410 is titled "Israeli winners Maccabi Haifa qualify for Champions League."
The champions of the top seven leagues are in Pot 1 for the Group Stage draw at 18:00 local in Turkey (12:00 P.M. USA Eastern), including AC Milan, who has the fourth lowest coefficient of 32 clubs. Maccabi Haifa could face these clubs (I did not give decimal places that are zeroes): Pot 1: Real Madrid of Spain (124), Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany (61, Europa League defending champion), Manchester City of England (134), AC Milan of Italy (38), Bayern Munich of Germany (138 that is the highest), Paris Saint-Germain of France (112), Porto of Portugal (80), or Ajax of Netherlands (82.5) Pot 2 (which has a higher average coefficient than Pot 1): Liverpool of England (134), Chelsea of England (123), Barcelona of Spain (114), Juventus of Italy (107), Atletico Madrid of Spain (105), Sevilla of Spain (91), Red Bull Leipzig of Germany (83), or Tottenham of England (83) Pot 3: Borussia Dortmund of Germany (78), Red Bull Salzburg of Austria (71), Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine (71), Internazionale (Inter Milan) of Italy (67), Napoli of Italy (66), Benfica of Portugal (61), Sporting Lisbon of Portugal (55.5), or Bayer Leverkusen of Germany (53) Pot 4's seven clubs higher than Maccabi Haifa are Rangers of Scotland (50.25), Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia (49.5), Olympique Marseille of France (44), Copenhagen of Denmark (40.5), Club Brugge of Belgium (38.5), Celtic of Scotland (33), and Viktoria Plzen of Czech Republic (31). Viktoria Plzen is closer to Bayer Leverkusen seven spots above them in Pot 3 than Viktoria Plzen is to Maccabi Haifa's 7. In the coefficients for the last five complete seasons, which is how clubs are seeded, Viktoria Plzen is 55th, and Maccabi Haifa is tied for 167th. Last season's lowest coefficient was Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova's 14.5. Maccabi Haifa has the lowest coefficient by a Group Stage club since Astana of Kzakhstan had a 3.825 in 2015-2016.
In the Champions League Group Stage, Maccabi Haifa is in Group H, and they will play Paris Saint-Germain of France (112 that ranks fourth in Pot 1), Juventus of Italy (107 that ranks fourth in Pot 2), and Benfica of Portugal (61 that ranks sixth in Pot 3). Those opponents have a mean coefficient of 93.333 (93 1/3). The 24 clubs in the top three pots have a mean coefficient of 88.833, so Maccabi Haifa got a slightly harder than average group by that measure. By the mean coefficient of the top three clubs, Groups A, C, and G are harder; and Groups B, D, E, F are easier; making Group H the fourth hardest group for the Pot 4 club. I think the difficulty of the Pot 3 club is more important than the average difficulty because Pot 3 clubs are easiest to gets points against, so I am happy with Benfica from that pot. Maccabi Haifa was the second-to-last club drawn. At that point they had a 50 percent chance at going in Group C with Bayern Munich and Barcelona, but luckily that did not happen. Matchday 1 is on Tuesday 6 September and Wednesday 7 September. The six matchdays are normally in thirteen weeks, but it is nine weeks this time to finish before the World Cup in November and December. The Europa Conference League Playoff Round second leg odds make these probabilities: Hapoel Be'er Sheva win: 52.2 percent Draw: 26.9 percent Universitatea Craiova of Romania win: 20.9 percent Nice of France win: 64.9 percent Draw: 21.7 percent Maccabi Tel Aviv win: 13.4 percent
Hapoel Be'er Sheva (hereafter HBS) 1-1 Universitatea Craiova (hereafter UC) of Romania (2-2 aggregate, Hapoel Be'er Sheva won penalty kicks 4-3) Nobody scored until extra time when UC scored in the 105th minute. Tomer Hemed, who was subbed on in the 61st, responded in the 105+1st, meaning stoppage time of the first half of extra time. UC shot penalty kicks first, and both clubs started by scoring. UC's second kick failed, and the clubs combined to make their next five to have HBS up 4-3 through four kicks. UC failed, letting HBS win without needing their fifth kick. HBS had 55 percent of possesion in the first half, 53 percent in the second half, 54 percent in extra time, and 54 percent for the game. HBS had 64.5 percent of the shots (20 to 11), 62.5 percent of the shots on goal (10 to 6), 52.6 percent of the combined free kicks and corner kicks (30 to 27), 55.7 percent of the attacks (136 to 108), 62.9 percent of the dangerous attacks (100 to 59), and a higher percent of attacks that were dangerous (100/136 = 73.5 percent that is very high to 59/108 = 54.6 percent). HBS had 87.5 percent of the yellow cards (7 to 1), including 1 yellow for a player not on the field, and 1 yellow for the coach. UC had 54.8 percent of the fouls (23 to 19), and I expect it to be very rare that one club had a majority of the fouls and the other club had 7/8ths of the yellow cards. There were no red cards, and no penalty kicks other than after extra time. UC made only one substitution in regulation. With five available in extra time, I was worried their fresh legs would help them win, but I am happy that they did not win. A draw (before penalty kicks) hosting a club with a worse coefficient is not impressive, but the important thing is HBS will get six games in the Europa Conference League Group Stage. Nice 2-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv (hereafter MTA) in extra time (1-0 after regulation, 1-1 aggregate after regulation, 2-1 aggregate) Nice had much better statistics with 55 percent of possession, 71.4 percent of the shots (25 to 15), 88.9 percent of the shots on goal (8 to 1), 61.2 percent of the combined free kicks and corner kicks (30 to 19), 52.0 percent of attacks (128 to 118), 65.1 percent of dangerous attacks (99 to 53), and a higher percent of attacks that were dangerous (99/128 = 77.3 percent that is very high to 53/118 = 44.9 percent). MTA's only yellow card of regulation was in the 24th, and I do not know if that contributed to Nice's 26th minute goal. When Nice had a player ejected for a second yellow in the 100th, I hoped MTA would score to advance, but that did not happen. A player was subbed on in the 106th and scored in the 113th. Nice had 77.8 percent of the yellow cards (7 to 2, with the 7 including 1 second yellow, 1 for a player not on the field, and 1 for the coach). Both clubs who advanced in games with Israeli clubs got 7 yellows including 1 for a player not on the field, and 1 for the coach. MTA's 24.500 coefficient was much higher than Nice's 12.016, and much higher than HBS's 14.000. In tomorrow's Group Stage draw, HBS will be in Pot 2, and MTA would have been in Pot 1. I wonder if an Israeli club has ever been in Pot 1 for a Group Stage draw. HBS's possible opponents are: Pot 1: Villarreal of Spain (78.000), Basel of Switzerland (55.000), Slavia Prague of Czech Republic (52.000), AZ Alkmaar of Netherlands (28.500), AA Gent of Belgium (27.500), Istanbul Basaksehir of Turkey (25.000) who eliminated Maccabi Netanya, Partizan Belgrade of Serbia (24.500), or West Ham United of England (21.328) Pot 3: Nice of France (12.016), Anderlecht of Belgium (11.500), Zalgiris Vilnius of Lithuania (8.000), Austrian Wien of Austria (7.770), Hearts of Scotland (7.380), Shamrock Rovers of Ireland (7.000), Sivasspor of Turkey (6.500), or Vaduz of Liechtenstein (6.500) Pot 4: Dnipro-1 of Ukraine (6.360), Lech Poznan of Poland (6.000), 1.FC Slovacko of Czech Republic (5.560), Silkeborg IF of Denmark (5.435), Djurgardens of Sweden (4.575), Pyunik Yerevan of Armenia (4.250), RFS Riga of Latvia (4.000), or Ballkani of Kosovo (1.633) Last season Alashkert was the first Armenian club to reach a Group Stage, and this season another Armenia club did that. I wonder what the lowest coefficient by a Group Stage club ever was. The mean coefficients are 35.885 for Pot 1, 15.928 for Pot 2, 8.333 for Pot 3, and 4.727 for Pot 4. There is a big difference betwee the top three clubs and the fourth best one, so Israel and the rest of clubs in Pots 2, 3, and 4 have a 37.5 percent chance at facing one of the top three clubs, with the exception of 1.FC Slovacko, who cannot face fellowing Czech club Slavia Prague. HBS's coefficient is tied for the sixth best in Pot 2, and tied for fourteenth of the 32 clubs. The other seven Pot 2 clubs are CFR Cluj of Romania (19.500), Molde of Norway (19.000), FCSB of Romania (17.500), Fiorentina of Italy (15.380), 1.FC Koln of Germany (15.042), Apollon Limassol of Cyprus (14.000), and Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia (13.000). Israel is tied with Czech Republic for third so far this season with 4.250. The top country of Liechtenstein, which has 4.500, and only has Vaduz competing. They reached the Europa Conference League Group Stage. The second country is Russia, which is suspended, and was given 4.333. For the last four complete seasons and this season so far, Israel is 20th with 23.000. They will not move up this season because the next lowest is Denmark with 24.625. Turkey is 21st with 22.700 and has four clubs left, and Cyprus is 22nd with 22.075 and has three clubs left. Turkey and Cyprus each have two clubs in the Europa League, which means they will be in the Europa League or Europa Conference League knockout rounds unless they finish last. Israel does not have any clubs in the Europa League, and I expect Maccabi Haifa to finish last, which does not send clubs to a lower competition. Israel has to rely on HBS. In the Group Stage, games are worth twice as much as in qualifying rounds. Wins give 2 points, which is 0.500 for Israel, and draws give 1 point, which is 0.250 for Israel. Here are the highlights. I will watch highlights of HBS, but not of MTA's loss.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva is in Group C of the Europa Conference League. They will face Villarreal of Spain (78.000), Austria Wien of Austria (7.770), and Lech Poznan of Poland (6.000). Villarreal's coefficient is the best and over 40 percent higher than Basel, who has the second best. Winners go to the Round of 16, and second place clubs go to a Playoff against Europa League third place clubs. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/sports/article-715506 is titled "Greens get by Red Star, into group stage." In 2002-2003, Maccabi Haifa became the first Israeli club to reach the Champions League Group Stage. Israeli clubs did that in six of 21 seasons from 2002-2003 through 2022-2023, and the longest streak without reaching the Group Stage was the previous six seasons. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/sports/article-715641 is titled "Maccabi Haifa rejoices and looks ahead." When they flew back to Israel, Maccabi Haifa was welcomed by over 1,000 fans and media at Ben-Gurion Airport. The group stage schedules have not been made yet.
In Champions League Group H, Maccabi Haifa alternates home and away starting with away. The schedule is: Tuesday 6 September: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Juventus, Benfica vs. Maccabi Haifa Wednesday 14 September: Juventus vs. Benfica, Maccabi Haifa vs. Paris Saint-Germain Wednesday 5 October: Juventus vs. Maccabi Haifa, Benfica vs. Paris Saint-Germany Tuesday 11 October: Maccabi Haifa vs. Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain vs. Benfica Tuesday 25 October: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Maccabi Haifa, Benfica vs. Juventus Wednesday 2 November: Juventus vs. Paris Saint-Germain, Macacbi Haifa vs. Benfica Benfica has the worst coefficient other than Maccabi Haifa, so Maccabi Haifa's best chance at a point is last. In Europa Conference League Group C, Hapoel Be'er Sheva also alternates home and away starting with away. The schedule is: Thursday 8 September: Villarreal vs. Lech Poznan, Austria Wien vs. Hapoel Be'er Sheva Thursday 15 September: Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs. Villarreal, Lech Poznan vs. Austria Wien Thursday 6 October: Lech Poznan vs. Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Villarreal vs. Austria Wien Thursday 13 October: Austria Wien vs. Villarreal, Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs. Lech Poznan Thursday 27 October: Villarreal vs. Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Austria Wien vs. Lech Poznan Thursday 3 November: Lech Poznan vs. Villarreal, Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs. Austria Wien
The odds for Tuesday's game at Benfica of Portugal make these probabilities: Benfica win: 75.9 percent Draw: 14.6 percent Maccabi Haifa win: 9.5 percent
https://www.flashscore.com/match/OvHFRDge/#/match-summary is a preview. Benfica has won all nine games this season, which are five domestic and four Champions League qualifiers. Benfica's injured players include Julian Draxler, who has 58 caps for the German national team. All seven goals Maccabi Haifa allowed in Champions League qualifiers were in first halves. The odds moved a little toward Maccabi Haifa: Benfica win: 73.7 percent (down 2.2 percent) Draw: 16.4 percent (up 1.8 percent) Maccabi Haifa win: 9.9 percent (up 0.4 percent) https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/sports/article-716406 is titled "Maccabi Haifa tunes up for Champions League duel at Benfica." The two Israeli clubs in group stages played in Matchday 3 of the Israeli Premier League (Ligat Ha'al). Hapoel Be'er Sheva hosted Maccabi Haifa, and Hapoel Be'er Sheva's Tomer Hemed scored in the 2nd. Omer Atzili scored a penalty kick in the 43rd to tie it, and things got better for Maccabi Haifa when Hapoel Be'er Sheva's Ramzi Safuri got a second yellow in the 42nd. Frantzdy Pierrot scored in the 90+1st for Maccabi Haifa to win 2-1. Each club got five yellows. In the 40th through 45+2nd, the clubs combined to get six yellows including two by Safuri. The only clubs who won all three games are Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa, and Maccabi Tel Aviv leads on goal differential +13 to +5. Hapoel Be'er Sheva opened with a 5-0 win, but then lost twice by 1 to be ninth of 14 with 3 points from 3 games and a +3 goal differential. Maccabi Haifa's next two games have opposite difficulty, as going to Benfica or any Champions League game is hard, and then they host Nes Tziona, who lost all three Israeli Premier League games without scoring, and is the only club without a point. If you pay for Paramount Plus, https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/uefa-champions-league/ will have video.
It is 0-0 at halftime. Flash Score says each club had 1 shot on goal, but Benfica had more than 1 that I thought were on goal. Benfica's best chance was late in the first half, and Maccabi Haifa got a weak shot on goal in the 45+4th. Maccabi Haifa had Ali Mohamed leave injured. Benfica's Goncalo Ramos got a yellow in the 44th, which was the only one. Benfica had 59 percent of possession, two-thirds of shots (6 to 3), 63.5 percent of the total passes, 65.7 percent of the completed passes, 62.8 percent of the attacks, and 78.4 percent of the dangerous attacks. Maccabi Haifa had more free kicks 6 to 4, and Benfica's goalkeeper conceded a corner kick in the 1st that turned out to be the only one of the half. The announcer said that Maccabi Haifa beat Benfica in the UEFA Youth League, which has the same groups as the Champions League. That is very impressive because Benfica is the defending champion. Benfica reached the Champions League Quarterfinals last season as they finished 1 point above Barcelona in a group that Bayern Munich won all 6 games in. Benfica won the Round of 16 aggregate 3-2 over Ajax of Netherlands before being eliminated by Liverpool 6-4.
Benfica scored in the 50th and 54th to win 2-0. https://www.flashscore.com/match/OvHFRDge/#/match-summary/match-statistics/0 has statistics that I am not typing, but I will say that in the score and statistics Maccabi Haifa met my expectations. Paris Saint-Germain won 2-1 hosting Juventus, so Benfica leads on goal differential, albeit they played their easiest game first. On Thursday at 7:45 P.M. Israel/6:45 P.M. Central European Time/12:45 P.M. USA Eastern, Hapoel Be'er Sheva is at Austria Vienna, while Villarreal of Spain hosts Lech Poznan of Poland.
https://www.flashscore.com/match/CnIqWfT4/#/match-summary/match-summary has a preview. Austria Vienna reached a group stage for the first time in five seasons. In the Europa League Playoff Round, they lost the aggregate 6-1 to Fenerbahce of Turkey, whose 14.500 coefficient is near Hapoel Be'er Sheva's 14.000. Austria Vienna has 4 draws and 7 losses in their last 11 UEFA home games. Their 7.770 coefficient ranks fourth in Pot 3 and 20th of the 32 clubs. Since winning 2-0 at one of the most famous clubs, Inter Milan, in September 2016, Hapoel Be'er Sheva has 2 draws and 6 losses in their last 8 away UEFA group stage games. Austria Vienna has three players injured, including Matan Baltaxa, who played 1 game for the Israeli national team. Hapoel Be'er Sheva does not have any players injured. Austria Vienna are small favorites, and the median outcome is a draw. The odds make these probabilities: Austria Vienna win: 41.5 percent Draw: 27.4 percent Hapoel Be'er Sheva win: 31.1 percent Villarreal of Spain will probably win hosting Lech Poznan of Poland, so the loser of Austria Vienna vs. Hapoel Be'er Sheva if there is a loser will probably by 3 points behind first before playing Villarreal. Hapoel Be'er Sheva hosts Villarreal next week.
Austria Vienna 0-0 Hapoel Be'er Sheva Combining today and their Playoff Round second leg before penalty kicks, Hapoel Be'er Sheva got consecutive draws with only 1 goal in 210 minutes. Each club led in some statistics. Possession was 52 percent for HBS, shots were 65.4 percent for AV (17 to 9), shots on goal were 100 percent for AV (6 to 0), combined free kicks and corner kicks were 52.9 percent for AV (27 to 24), total passes were 52.5 percent for AV (438 to 396), completed passes were 52.7 percent for AV (353 to 317), AV had a higher pass completion percentage (353/438 = 80.6 percent to 317/396 = 80.1 percent), attacks were 54.0 percent for HBS (107 to 91), dangerous attacks were 51.7 percent for HBS (46 to 43), and percent of attacks that were dangerous was higher for AV (43/91 = 47.3 percent to 46/107 = 43.0 percent). AV led in seven of those ten statistics, and having 6 shots on goal to HBS's 0 probably made AV disappointed not to win. https://www.flashscore.com/match/CnIqWfT4/#/report is titled "Woodwork takes centre stage to keep curtain closed" because each club hit the crossbar. It gave Man of the Match to HBS goalkeeper Omri Glazer. When neither club scores, the goalkeeper who made more saves has a good chance at getting man of the match. It is worth 1/4 = 0.250 for Israel to make 4.500 this season. I will post the coefficient rankings after the second set of today's games. In the other game, Lech Poznan of Poland scored in the 2nd minute at Villarreal of Spain. Villarreal scored in the 32nd, 36th, and 40th to lead 3-1 at halftime, but they blew the lead. Lech Poznan scored a penalty kick in the 46th, and equalized in the 61st. Francis Coquelin, who I remember from when he played for Arsenal, scored in the 89th to give Villarreal a harder-than-expected win and to be in first. The fact that Villarreal gave up 3 goals gives me a little hope they will not win at HBS, but HBS will need to play much better than today because I do not think they can avoid giving up a goal to a club that is that good. Villarreal's last game in Israel was in the 2020-2021 Europa League Group Stage, when they got a 1-1 at Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Villarreal won their other 5 games. In the 2017-2018 Europa League Group Stage, Maccabi Tel Aviv's only points were a 0-0 hosting Villarreal, and a 1-0 win at Villarreal, which made the very rare situation of the last place club winning at the first place club.
Israel is third so far this season with 4.500. I expect at least four countries to pass Israel next week because the top countries that had one club in qualify play enough games to have the best coefficients. For the last four complete seasons and this season, Turkey passed Israel to drop Israel to 21st. I think Turkey will remain above Israel, and Cyprus might pass Israel.
https://www.flashscore.com/match/fJ96N7dh/#/match-summary is a preview of Maccabi Haifa hosting Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on Wednesday 14 September at 10:00 P.M. Israel/9:00 P.M. Central European/3:00 P.M. USA Eastern. PSG has 2 draws and 3 losses in their last five Champions League away games, and have not kept a clean sheet in their last nine Champions League away games. In the next few years, they may not get an easier Champions League opponent than Maccabi Haifa. The odds have PSG as second most likely to win the Champions League. The odds make these probabilities: Maccabi Haifa win: 5.5 percent Draw: 11.8 percent PSG win: 82.7 percent
If you pay for Paramount Plus, https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/uefa-champions-league/ has a link to Maccabi Haifa vs. Paris Saint-Germain, which starts in two hours. I may or may not post a direct link later. Tomorrow's Europa Conference League odds make these probabilities: Hapoel Be'er Sheva win: 15.7 percent Draw: 23.5 percent Villarreal of Spain win: 60.8 percent https://www.flashscore.com/match/hrkNEgbU/#/match-summary is a preview that says Villarreal has four players injured and goalkeeper Pepe Reina questionable, while Hapoel Be'er Sheva does not have any players injured.
https://www.paramountplus.com/live-tv/stream/uefa-champions-league/EIYPcjzlOslmu7MD0IGlmuPjVa07SRJi/ has video. Paris Saint-Germain started the elite trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe. https://www.flashscore.com/match/fJ96N7dh/#/match-summary/ says what is happening.
Maccabi Haifa 1-3 Paris Saint-Germain (hereafter PSG) Maccabi Haifa scored their first goal in eight Group Stage games when Tjarron Chery scored in the 24th. PSG's stars all scored, as Lionel Messi scored in the 37th, Kylian Mbappe scored in the 69th, and Neymar scored in the 88th. PSG had small advantages in possession (52 percent), shots (16 to 12), and shots on goal (6 to 5). PSG had a advantage in combined free kicks and corner kicks (34 to 13). In the other game, Benfica of Portugal won 2-1 at Juventus of Italy, giving two clubs two wins and two clubs two losses. After national teams play, Maccabi Haifa goes to Juventus on 5 October. Juventus (-2) is above Maccabi Haifa (-4) on goal differential.
You can watch Maccabi Haifa's first Champions League Group Stage goal since 13 November 2002 at: In about two hours, Hapoel Be'er Sheva (hereafter HBS) hosts Villarreal of Spain, while Lech Poznan of Poland hosts Austria Vienna. I expect HBS to lose. Lech Poznan is favored with a 51.1 percent chance at winning. If HBS loses and Lech Poznan wins, HBS and Austria Vienna will be tied for last with the tie determined by goal differential and then goals scored. If HBS loses and Lech Poznan vs. Austria Vienna is a draw, Lech Poznan will almost certainly lead HBS on the tiebreakers to have HBS in last. With Lech Poznan's 4-3 loss last week, a draw today would have them -1 with at least 3 goals scored, so HBS would have to lose by 1 and score a lot to lead Lech Poznan on a tiebreaker. If HBS loses and Austria Vienna wins, HBS will be 1 point above Lech Poznan, but 3 points behind second place Austria Vienna.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 1-2 Villarreal of Spain Villarreal scored in the 28th, Rotem Hatuel scored in the 63rd, and Villarreal scored the winner in the 67th. The statistics were close. Lech Poznan of Poland won 4-1 hosting Austria Vienna. That makes the table: Villarreal: 6 points, +2 Lech Poznan: 3 points, +2 Hapoel Be'er Sheva: 1 point, -1 (head-to-head is the first tiebreaker and they got a draw at Austria Vienna) Austria Vienna: 1 point, -3 Israel remained with a 4.500 coefficient this season and a 23.250 for the last four complete seasons and this partial season. Israel is 21st in the latter, and Cyprus got closer. This season, Israel fell from fourth to a four-way tie for ninth. Spain moved up to first. Belgium, England, Turkey, and Germany passed Israel. Italy, Netherlands, and Norway tied Israel. Of the 55 countries, 27 have all their clubs eliminated or do not have a realistic chance at getting to 4.500 this season. The next European games are in three weeks.
Juventus of Italy 3-1 Maccabi Haifa While down 2-0, Dean David scored in the 75th. Maccabi Haifa lost to each opponent by 2 goals. Maccabi Haifa hosts Juventus in six days. Hapoel Be'er Sheva is at Lech Poznan of Poland in the Europa Conference League tomorrow.
Lech Poznan of Poland 0-0 Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva did not have a shot on goal, and I am not typing statistics. I hope they do better hosting Lech Poznan next week. Here are the standings: Villarreal of Spain (Pot 1, 78.000): 9 points, +7 Lech Poznan (Pot 4, 6.000): 4 points, +2 Hapoel Be'er Sheva (Pot 2, 14.000): 2 points, -1 Austria Vienna (Pot 3, 7.770): 1 point, -8 The draw gave Israel 0.250 to make 4.750 this season, which is 13th. Israel is 21st for the last four complete seasons and this season combined. Greece is 1.225 ahead, and I do not think Israel will pass Greece. The only remaining Greek club is Olympiacos Piraeus, who lost today. Cyprus is 22nd, and is 0.825 behind Israel. All thre Cypriot clubs lost today.
Omer Atzili scored in the 7th to give Maccabi Haifa their second lead of the Group Stage. They are hosting Juventus of Italy, who is desperate because they are 4 points behind the top two. The game was one of two games that started 2 hours 15 minutes before the other six games. Juventus was favored with a 54.1 percent chance of winning, 24.9 percent chance of a draw, and 21.0 percent chance of a Maccabi Haifa win. In addition to leading, Maccabi Haifa has 56 percent of possession, more shots (6 to 2), and more shots on goal (3 to 0). https://www.paramountplus.com/live-tv/stream/uefa-champions-league/xvLbz1VJ9WmVs8stvARgECt3BGZ89obr/ has video for people in the USA who pay for Paramount Plus. It is in the 35th minute. Edit: Atzili scored in the 42nd, Maccabi Haifa leads 2-0 at halftime, and the announcer said Maccabi Haifa dominated. Juventus had a chance in the 45th.