There are no more group stages. Each competition expanded the competition proper from 32 clubs to 36 clubs. In the Champions League, the amount of spots for champions who do not start in the competition proper increased for 4 to 5. Each competition will only advance clubs to the knockout rounds of that competition. There will not be any clubs going from the Champions League proper to the Europa League knockout rounds, or the Europa League proper to the Europa Conference League knockout rounds. Maccabi Tel Aviv has a 35.500 coefficient, which is the second best of the clubs starting in the Second Round Qualifying Round for Champions, and fourth best among all champions in qualifying rounds. In the Second Qualifying Round, they could have faced the winner of Hamrun Spartans of Malta (4.500) or Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar (9.000), the winner of Flora Tallinn of Estonia (11.000) or Celje of Slovenia (4.500), the winner of Virtus of San Marino (0.366) or FCSB of Romania (10.500), or Jagiellonia Bialystok of Poland (5.075). They will host the second leg against Virtus or FCSB, and FCSB will easily beat Virtus. If Maccabi Tel Aviv reached the Third Qualifying Round. Their possible opponents include Sparta Prague of Czech Republic, Vikingur Reykjavik of Iceland, Shamrock Rovers of Ireland, Malmo FF of Sweden, KI of Faroe Islands, Differdange 03 of Luxembourg, APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus, Ordabasy of Kazakhstan, or Petrocub Hincesti of Moldova. Those are not all their possible opponents because some Second Qualifying Round pairings may or may not have their winner seeded in the Third Qualifying Round. The First Qualifying Round starts one week from today. Maccabi Tel Aviv will be away on 23 or 24 July and home on 31 July. The Europa League now includes cup winners going down to the 33rd ranked country, so Israel gets a spot. Last season the Europa League included winners going down to the 16th ranked country, and countries below that could get their champion eliminated from the Champions League and in the Europa League. Maccabi Petah Tikva (6.225) will start in the Second Qualifying Round with a tough test hosting the second leg against Braga of Portugal (49.000). The games are on 25 July and 1 August. Maccabi Petah Tikva could have been drawn against Rijeka of Croatia (12.000), the winner of Botev Plovdiv of Bulgaria (4.075) or Maribor of Slovenia (9.500), or the winner of Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova (20.000) or Zira of Azerbaijan (4.025). Braga has the second highest coefficient of the 24 clubs that start in the First Qualifying Round or Second Qualifying Round. If Maccabi Petah Tikva loses, they will be unseeded in the Europa Conference Round Third Qualifying Round. Their possible opponents include Copenhagen of Denmark, Gent of Belgium, Istanbul Basasksehir of Turkiye, CFR Cluj of Romania, Legia Warsaw of Poland, Djurgarden of Sweden, Go Ahead Eagles of Netherlands, Omonia Nicosia of Cyprus, Vitoria de Guimaraes of Portugal, Astana of Kazakhstan, Riga of Latvia, Olimpija Ljubljana of Slovenia, Dnipro-1 of Ukraine, AEK Athens of Greece, Zrinjski Mostar of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hajduk Split of Croatia, Osijek of Croatia, Spartak Trnava of Slovakia, AEK Larnaca of Cyprus, Austria Wien of Austria, Ararat-Armenia of Armenia, Vaduz of Liechtenstein, DAC Dunajska Streda of Slovakia, and Fehervar of Hungary. Maccabi Haifa (18.000) and Hapoel Be'er Sheva (17.000) will start in the Europa Conference League Second Qualifying Round and be seeded. Maccabi Haifa could have faced Iberia 1999 of Georgia (4.500), Sabah of Azerbaijan (4.025), Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino of Belarus (3.000) or Milsami Orhei of Moldova (5.000), or Paks of Hungary (4.375) or Corvinul Hunedoara of Romania (4.275). Paks vs. Corvinul Hunedoara is a Europa League First Qualifying Round matchup that sends its loser to the Europa Conference League Second Qualifying Round. Maccabi Haifa will host the first leg against Sabah. Hapoel Be'er Sheva could have faced Cherno More of Bulgaria (4.075), Sumgayit of Azerbaijan (4.025), La Fiorita of San Marino (4.500) or Isloch Minsk Raion of Belarus (1.325), Torpedo Kutaisi of Georgia (2.500) or Tirana of Albania (5.500), or Ruzomberok of Slovakia (3.925) or Tobol of Kazakhstan (7.500). Ruzomberok vs. Tobol is a Europa League First Qualifying Round matchup that sends its loser to the Europa Conference League Second Qualifying Round. Hapoel Be'er Sheva will host the first leg against Cherno More. The games are on 25 July and 1 August. Two clubs will host first legs, and two clubs will host second legs. It is the first time in a while that Israel did not have any clubs start in the First Qualifying Round. It will be surprising if Maccabi Petah Tikva advances or any of the other three clubs do not advance.
FCSB of Romania defeated Virtus of San Marino 7-1 and 4-0 to win the aggregate 11-1. Hapoel Be'er Sheva will host the Champions League Second Qualifying Round second leg against FCSB on Tuesday 23 July at 8:30 P.M. Israel/7:30 P.M. Central European Time/1:30 P.M. USA Eastern. On Thursday, Maccabi Petah Tikva's Europa League Second Qualifying Round first leg at Braga of Portugal will be at 10:30 P.M. Israel/9:30 P.M. Central European Time/3:30 P.M. USA Eastern. I typed "Europa Conference League" earlier, but the name was shortened to "Conference League." Flash Score does not have next week's start times yet.
In the Conference League Second Qualifying Round, Hapoel Beer Sheva's first leg against Cherno More of Bulgaria will be at 8:00 P.M. Israel/7:00 P.M. Central European Time/1:00 P.M. USA Eastern, and Maccabi Haifa's first leg hosting Sabah Baku of Azerbaijan will be at 8:15 P.M. Israel/7:15 P.M. Central European Time/1:15 P.M. USA Eastern. Last season, Israeli clubs were not allowed to host games. This week, Hapoel Beer Sheva has to play in Lovech in a different city in Bulgaria than Cherno More is in, while Maccabi Haifa is allowed to host. Therefore those two games will be mostly at the same time, and they will end before Maccabi Petah Tikva's Europa League Second Qualifying Round first leg at Braga of Portugal. The odds make these probabilities: FCSB win: 40.6 percent Draw: 26.8 percent Maccabi Tel Aviv win: 32.6 percent Braga win: 70.3 percent Draw: 18.3 percent Maccabi Petah Tikva win: 11.4 percent Hapoel Beer Sheva win: 43.6 percent Draw: 28.2 percent Cherno More win: 28.2 percent The odds for a draw and a Cherno More win are both 3.25 to 1. Maccabi Haifa win: 52.8 percent Draw: 26.9 percent Sabah Baku win: 20.3 percent Even considering that Hapoel Beer Sheva has to play in Bulgaria instead of at home, I am surprised that the three favored Israeli clubs are not favored by more. If you consider the club coefficients to be accurate, Maccabi Haifa (18.000) should have way over a 50 percent chance of winning hosting Sabah Baku (4.025).
FCSB 1-1 Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv scored in the 71st, and FCSB scored in the 76th. FCSB had more shots 16 to 7, and more shots on goal 6 to 2. The second leg will be Wednesday 31 July in Budapest, Hungary. I previously saw and said that Maccabi Haifa is allowed to host, but no Israeli clubs are allowed to host. Maccabi Tel Aviv could still advance, but they will need to play better to advance three rounds to the Champions League's League Stage.
It was a horrible day for Israeli clubs, so I'm not going to type too much or link to highlights. Both competitions had Second Qualifying Round first legs today. In the Europa League, Maccabi Petah Tikva was scoreless at halftime before losing 2-0 at Braga of Portugal, which is good for Maccabi Petah Tikva. I did not give them any chance of advancing as soon as they were drawn against Braga. If they are eliminated next week, they will drop down to the Conference League Third Qualifying Round where they were unseeded. The leg that would have been their home leg will be first, and they will face the winner of CFR Cluj of Romania (26.500) or Neman Grodno of Belarus (2.000). CFR Cluj will be disappointed that today's home leg was 0-0. Neman Grodno cannot host, and the second leg will be in Gyor, Hungary. CFR Cluj had the fourth highest coefficient of the 52 clubs that will be in the Conference League Third Qualifying Round Main Path if all the seeded clubs in the Second Qualifying Round of the Europa League and Conference League advance. Israeli clubs are not allowed to host, and Hapoel Beer Sheva played their first leg in a different Bulgarian city than their opponent, Cherno More. It was 0-0. Hapoel Beer Sheva could advance at Cherno More, and the fact that they had better statistics gives me hope, but next week could go either way. Hapoel Beer Sheva had 57 percent of possession, more shots 13 to 6, and more shots on goal 2 to 1. If they advance, the leg that would have been their home leg will be second, and they will face the winner of Mlada Boleslav of Czechia (7.210) or TransINVEST Vilnius of Lithuania (1.700). Mlada Boleslav hosted the first leg and won 2-0. Maccabi Haifa played their first leg at a neutral site and shockingly lost 3-0 to Sabah Baku of Azerbaijan Maccabi Haifa had more possession and attacks, but Sabah Baku had more shots and shots on goal. Shots on goal were 8 to 6, and Maccabi Haifa should never allow that many shots on goal to a club that weak. In the unlikely event that they advance, the leg that would have been their home leg will be second, and they will face the winner of St. Patrick's Athletic of Ireland (4.000) or Vaduz of Liechtenstein (8.000). Hapoel Beer Sheva and Maccabi Haifa both had high enough coefficients that will be seeded in any round they play in before the League Stage. I wonder if it is the first time that at least two Israeli clubs started qualifying rounds where they would be seeded in every qualifying round they played in. Israeli clubs did so well in the last four seasons, and this season is off to a bad start. If Maccabi Tel Aviv advances to the Champions League Third Qualifying Round, the leg that would have been their home leg will be second, and they will play Shamrock Rovers of Ireland (9.500) or Sparta Prague of Czechia (22.500). Sparta Prague won the first leg 2-0 away, so they will advance, and Maccabi Tel Aviv will probably not beat them if Maccabi Tel Aviv gets that far. If Maccabi Tel Aviv does not advance in the Champions League, they will go to the Europa League Third Qualifying Round Champions Path. The leg that would have been their home leg will be second, and they will play FK Panevezys of Lithuania (4.000) or Jagiellonia Białystok of Poland (5.075). Jagiellonia Białystok won the first leg 4-0 away, so they will advance in the Champions League, and Maccabi Tel Aviv would face FK Panevezys. Beating FK Panevezys would get them to the Europa League Playoff Round, which would guarantee them to reach the league stage of the Europa League or Conference League.
Here are this week's probabilities from odds: Champions League Second Qualifying Round second leg on Wednesday at 9:00 P.M. Israel/8:00 P.M. Central European Time/2:00 P.M. USA Eastern at a neutral site (the first leg was 1-1): Maccabi Tel Aviv win: 39.8 percent Draw: 28.6 percent FCSB of Romania win: 31.6 percent Europa League Second Qualifying Round second leg on Thursday at 8:30 P.M. Israel/7:30 P.M. Central European Time/1:30 P.M. USA Eastern at a neutral site (Braga won the first leg 2-0): Maccabi Petah Tikva win: 12.2 percent Draw: 17.4 percent Braga of Portugal win: 70.4 percent Conference League Second Qualifying Round second leg on Thursday at 7:00 P.M. Israel/6:00 P.M. Central European Time/12:00 P.M. USA Eastern (Sabah Baku won the first leg 3-0): Sabah Baku of Azerbaijan win: 29.5 percent Draw: 26.9 percent Maccabi Haifa win: 43.6 percent It is probably unusual for a club to win 3-0 away and not be favored at home, which shows how much of a surprise the first leg was. Conference League Second Qualifying Round second leg on Thursday at a neutral site in Razgrad (a different city in Bulgaria than Cherno More) 8:30 P.M. Israel/7:30 P.M. Central European Time/1:30 P.M. USA Eastern (the first leg was 0-0): Cherno More of Bulgaria win: 34.1 percent Draw: 29.9 percent Hapoel Beer Sheva win: 35.9 percent It adds up to 99.9 percent because of rounding. The odds ignore the fact that certain scores require extra time.
Maccabi Tel Aviv 0-1 FCSB at a neutral site (the aggregate was Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-2 FCSB) Extra time looked likely, but FCSB scored in the 90th. Maccabi Tel Aviv had more possession, attacks, and dangerous attacks. FCSB dominated in shots 9 to 2, shots on goal 3 to 0, and combined corner kicks and opponent's fouls 19 to 12. I add corner kicks and free kicks when I can, but Flash Score did not give the amount of free kicks, so I used the amount of opponent's fouls instead. Maccabi Tel Aviv goes to the Europa League Third Qualifying Round Main Path, where they will face the loser of the Champions League Second Qaulifying Round matchup between Jagiellonia Bialystok of Poland (5.075), or FK Panevezys of Lithuania (4.000). Jagiellonia Bialystok won the first leg 4-0 and leads the second leg 2-0, so FK Panevezys will lose and host the first leg against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
After a 2-0 loss at Braga of Portugal in the Europa League Second Qualifying Round, I hoped that Maccabi Petah Tikva could get a draw at a neutral site to get half a coefficient point from their elimination, but Braga won 5-0. Shots on goal were 5 to 1. In the Conference League Second Qualifying Round, Maccabi Haifa played at Sabah Baku of Azerbaijan after Sabah Baku won 3-0 at a neutral site last week. The first time I checked the score, it was 1-1. Maccabi Haifa led 1-0 at halftime, but allowed a goal in the 47th to go down in the aggregate 4-1. The next time I checked, I was shocked to see that Maccabi Haifa led 5-2 and it was going to extra time. There were four goals close together as Maccabi Haifa scored in the 67th to go up 2-1 and trail the aggregate 4-2, Maccabi Haifa scored in the 70th to go up 3-1 and trail the aggregate 4-3, Sabah Baku scored in the 71st to go down 3-2 and lead the aggregate 5-3, and Maccabi Haifa scored in the 73rd to go up 4-2 and trail the aggregate 5-4. Frantzdy Pierrot scored his second goal in the 90th minute to go up 5-2 and tie the aggregate 5-5. The next time I checked, Maccabi Haifa led 5-3, and Sabah Baku led the aggregate 6-5 after a goal in the 103rd. Maccabi Haifa scored in the 112th to go up 6-3, and tie the aggregate 6-6. Maccabi Haifa kicked first in penalty kicks. After Sabah Baku's second attempt failed, Maccabi Haifa led 2-1, but by the time I checked, Maccabi Haifa failed on their third and fourth kicks. Maccabi Haifa trailed 3-2 and needed to score followed by Sabah Baku not scoring. Maccabi Haifa had their third consecutive failure to make Sabah Baku win penalty kicks 3-2 without needing their last kick. I wish I could find out when the last time (if it ever happened) was that a club scored at least 6 away goals including 3 goals in about 6 minutes (I would need the exact time within the 67th and 73rd minutes to find out if it was more or less than 6 minutes) and lost an aggregate. Normally a club that is good enough to score that much away will not have lost the other leg. While it was disappointing not to advance after tying the game in the 90th and 112nd and going to penalty kicks, at least Maccabi Haifa played much better than last week, and got a coefficient point from their win. Maccabi Haifa dominated statistics with 56 percent of possession, 73.7 percent of shots (42 to 15), 80 percent of shots on goal (16 to 4), 79.1 percent of combined corner kicks and opponent's fouls (34 to 9), 40 percent of yellow cards (2 to 3), 64.1 percent of attacks (211 to 118), 73.7 percent of dangerous attacks (185 to 66), and a higher percent of attacks that were dangerous (185/211 = 87.8 percent to 66/118 = 55.9 percent). Flash Score did not give the amount of free kicks, so I used opponent's fouls instead. Having 87.8 percent of attacks being dangerous is extremely high. Flash Score did not give the amount of passes. I will post about Hapoel Beer Sheva, coefficients, and next week's schedule later.
Cherno More of Bulgaria 1-2 Hapoel Beer Sheva (2-3 aggregate with Hapoel Beer Sheva winning) Helder Lopes scored both of Hapoel Beer Sheva's goals. He scored in the 25th, but the lead did not last long because Cherno More scored in the 33rd. He scored the winning and final goal in the 64th. Hapoel Beer Sheva was better in a majority of statistics including 60 percent of possession, 55 percent of shots (11 to 9), 60 percent of shots on goal (3 to 2), 51.2 percent of combined corner kicks and opponent's fouls (21 to 20), and 51.0 percent of attacks (79 to 76). Cherno More had 56.4 percent of dangerous attacks (88 to 68), but Flash Score says Cherno More had more dangerous attacks than attacks, so they made a mistake. Cherno More had a big advantage in yellow cards as they got one, and Hapoel Beer Sheva got six, including three from the 81st to the 89th. Flash Score did not provide free kicks, so I used opponent's fouls, and Flash Score did not provide passes. Here is the Third Qualifying Round schedule: In the Europa League Champions Path, Maccabi Tel Aviv (35.500) will be away in the first leg against FK Panevezys of Lithuania (4.000). Most games are on Thursdays, but the first leg will be on Tuesday 6 August, with the second leg in Hungary on Thursday 15 August. Advancing would guarantee that Maccabi Tel Aviv reaches the League Stage of the Europa League or Conference League, and they will be seeded in the Europa League Playoff Round Champions Path if they reach it. In the Conference League Main Path, Hapoel Beer Sheva (17.000) will be away in the first leg against Mlada Boleslav of Czechia (7.210), and Maccabi Petah Tikva (6.225) will be away in the second leg against CFR Cluj of Romania (26.500). Wikipedia does not say where the neutral site games will be. Hapoel Beer Sheva will be seeded in the Playoff Round if they reach it.
Europa League Third Qualifying Round first leg: FK Panevezys of Lithuania 1-2 Maccabi Tel Aviv Dor Peretz scored in the 3rd, and Dor Turgeman scored in the 10th, but Maccabi Tel Aviv did not score after that. FK Panevezys scored in the 70th. Maccabi Tel Aviv had better statistics other than fouls. Shots (11 to 9) and dangerous attacks (52 to 49) were close. Shots on goal were 7 to 2. The odds gave Maccabi Tel Aviv a 70.5 percent chance of winning, so winning by 1 was not impressive, but Maccabi Tel Aviv should win at a neutral site next week, and they only need a draw to advance. In the Conference League Third Qualifying Round first legs on 8 August: Mlada Boleslav of Czech Republic vs. Hapoel Beer Sheva at 7:00 P.M. Israel/6:00 P.M. Central European Time/12:00 P.M. USA Eastern The odds are 55.1 percent for a Mlada Boleslav win, 25.6 percent for a draw, 19.4 percent for a Hapoel Beer Sheva win, and it adds up to 100.1 percent because of rounding. Maccabi Petah Tikva vs. CFR Cluj of Romania in Sofia, Bulgaria at 9:00 P.M. Israel/8:00 P.M. Central European Time/2:00 P.M. USA Eastern The odds are 20.5 percent for a Maccabi Petah Tikva win, 26.3 percent for a draw, and 53.2 percent for a CFR Cluj win.
In the Conference League Third Qualifying Round first legs: Mlada Boleslav of Czechia 1-1 Hapoel Beer Sheva Mlada Boleslav scored a penalty kick in the 39th, and Hapoel Beer Sheva's Tomer Yosefi scored in 50th. Mlada Boleslav had more attacks and dangerous attacks. Hapoel Beer Sheva had more possession (56 percent), shots (20 to 15), and shots on goal (7 to 6). The secon leg will be in Lovech, Bulgaria. Maccabi Petah Tikva 0-1 CFR Cluj (in Sofia, Bulgaria) CFR Cluj scored in the 9th. Maccabi Petah Tikva had 62 percent of possession, more attacks, and more dangerous attacks. CFR Cluj had more shots (16 to 8) and more shots on goal (3 to 2). Maccabi Petah Tikva has the much worse coefficient.
Israeli clubs had another bad day in the Conference League Third Qualifying Round second legs. After losing 1-0 at a neutral site, Maccabi Petah Tikva lost 1-0 at CFR Cluj of Romania. After a 1-1 draw at Mlada Bloeslav of Czechia, Hapoel Beer Sheva took a 2-0 lead at a neutral site, but went on to allow 4 goals and get 3 red cards without scoring more. Hapoel Beer Sheva got eight yellows, including two second yellows, and a straight red in the 90+9th. I am not typing statistics about these games that went poorly. Maccabi Haifa, who was eliminated in the Second Qualifying Round, and Hapoel Beer Sheva would have been favored in the Playoff Round. When I saw when they would be seeded, I did not think there was any way they would be eliminated this soon, and it looks like Israel's streak of four seasons with very good country coefficients is over. In the Europa League Playoff Round, Maccabi Tel Aviv won 2-1 at FK Panevezys of Lithuania last week when I thought they should have been able to win by 2 away. Today at a neutral site they won 3-0 to win the aggregate 5-1 and get 0.250 coefficient points for Israel. Dor Peretz scored in the 45+3rd, Osher Davida scored in the 54th, and Sagiv Jehezkel scored in the 70th. Maccabi Tel Aviv dominated with 63 percent of possession, more shots 25 to 10, and more shots on goal 7 to 4. I will not type the country coefficients. In the Europa League Playoff Round on 22 August and 29 August, Maccabi Tel Aviv will play TSC Backa Topola of Serbia, with the first leg at a neutral site, and the second leg at TSC. TSC has a 5.555 coefficient, which is so much worse than Maccabi Tel Aviv's 35.500. If Maccabi Tel Aviv advances, they will be in Pot 2 for the League Stage. There are no longer Group Stages.
In the Europa League Playoff Round first leg at a neutral site, Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated TSC Backa Topola of Serbia 3-0. Maccabi Tel Aviv was favored, but I was surprised they were not favored by more, and they dominated. Shots were 19 to 2, and shots on goal were 10 to 1. Maccabi Tel Aviv had 119 of 124 attacks be dangerous, which seems unrealistic, but that is what https://www.flashscore.com/match/SODbsV0s/#/match-summary/match-statistics/0 says. Dor Turgeman scored in the 27th. TSC got two straight reds late in the first half. Mateja Djordjevic was ejected in the 42nd, and Mihajlo Banjac was ejected in the 45+2nd. Dor Peretz scored in the 63rd, and Elad Madmon scored in the 83rd. The second leg at TSC is on Thursday 29 August at 10:00 P.M. Israel/9:00 P.M. Central European Time/3:00 P.M. USA Eastern.
TSC Backa Topola of Serbia 1-5 Maccabi Tel Aviv (1-8 aggregate) Henry Addo scored in the 2nd and 6th, TSC made an injury substitution in the 9th, and Tyrese Asante scored in the 12th, so the game could not have started worse for TSC. It was 3-0 at halftime, and the next goal was by Dor Turgeman in the 56th. Ido Sahar scored in the 89th. Vieljeux Mboungou got a yellow in the 90+1st, and more than made up for it with a goal in the 90+2nd so his club did not get shut out. The score could make people assume that Maccabi Tel Aviv dominated the statistics, but that did not happen. TSC had more possession, corner kicks, free kicks, attacks, and dangerous attacks. However, Maccabi Tel Aviv had more shots 13 to 6, and more shots on goal 8 to 3, so TSC's 61 percent of possession did not threaten much. Maccabi Tel Aviv will play in the Europa League's League Phase, and they are the only Israeli club left. The League Phase has each club play eight games, with one home game (neutral for Maccabi Tel Aviv) and one away game against each pot including the club's pot. The pots and club coefficients are: Pot 1: AS Roma of Italy: 101.000 Manchester United of England: 92.000 Porto of Portugal: 77.000 Ajax of Netherlands: 67.000 Rangers of Scotland: 63.000 Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany: 60.000 Lazio of Italy: 54.000 Tottenham Hotspur of England: 54.000 Slavia Prague of Czechia: 53.000 Pot 2: Real Sociedad of Spain: 51.000 AZ Alkmaar of Netherlands: 50.000 Braga of Portugal: 49.000 Olympiacos Piraeus of Greece: 48.000 Lyon of France: 44.000 PAOK of Greece: 37.000 Fenerbahce of Turkiye: 36.000 Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel: 36.500 (the 17th best, and the top coefficient that is not a whole number) Ferencvaros of Hungary: 35.000 Pot 3: Qarabag of Azerbaijan: 33.000 Galatasaray of Turkiye: 31.500 Bodo/Glimt of Norway: 28.000 Viktoria Plzen of Czechia: 28.000 Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium: 27.000 Dynamo Kyiv of Ukraine: 26.500 Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria: 26.000 Midtjylland of Denmark: 25.500 Malmo FF of Sweden: 18.500 Pot 4: Athletic Bilbao of Spain: 17.897 TSG Hoffenheim of Germany: 17.324 Nice of France: 17.000 Anderlecht of Belgium: 14.500 Twente Enschede of Netherlands: 12.260 Besiktas of Turkiye: 12.000 FCSB of Romania: 10.500 RFS Riga of Latvia: 8.000 Elfsborg of Sweden: 4.300 Once the schedule is done, I might comment on how easy or hard the draw was for Maccabi Tel Aviv, which is only possible if you consider the club coefficients to be accurate about how good clubs are now. Matchday 1 is on 25 and 26 September. It is on two days instead of one Thursday because it is the only UEFA competition playing that week.
TSC posted highlights of yesterday's game on YouTube, but unfortunately they have background music and no announcer. I would not understand the announcer's language anyway, but I would rather hear nothing or just crowd noise than hear music, so I played it with the sound muted. In the Europa League's League Stage, clubs play one home game and one away game against each pot including their own pot, so being in Pot 2 does not give a club easier opponents than Pot 3 and Pot 4 clubs like it used to. Wikipedia gives the mean coefficient of each club's opponents, and Maccabi Tel Aviv has the tenth highest at 39.688 (Wikipedia gave one decimal place and said 39.7, and I calculated it myself). That means they have the tenth hardest schedule, which is the 27th easiest. From Pot 1, they will play Porto of Portugal (77.000, 3rd best) and go to Ajax of Netherlands (67.000, 4th best). From Pot 2, they will play Real Sociedad of Spain (51.000, 10th best, best in Pot 2) and go to Braga of Portugal (49.000, 12th best, 3rd best in Pot 2). From Pot 3, they will play Midtjylland of Denmark (25.500, 26th best, 8th best in Pot 3) and go to Bodo/Glimt of Norway (28.000, tied for 21st best, tied for 3rd best in Pot 3). From Pot 4, they will play RFS Riga of Latvia (8.000, 35th best, 8th best in Pot 4) and go to Besiktas of Turkiye (12.000, 33rd best, 6th best in Pot 4). Their top four opponents are against clubs in the top half of their pots. Maccabi Tel Aviv has a 35.500 coefficient, and the mean of the other 35 clubs is 37.965. 19 clubs have their mean opponent's coefficient higher than the mean for all clubs, and 17 clubs have their mean opponent's coefficient lower than the mean for all clubs. The schedule (order of games) will be announced tomorrow. For the last four complete seasons and this season so far, Austria passed Israel for 12th in the country coefficients. With the accomplishments of Red Bull Salzburg, LASK, and Sturm Graz, I am surprised that Israel was above Austria before that. Israel is the only one of the top 18 countries that has only one club left. There are 55 countries, which becomes 54 when you take out Russia who is suspended, and 40 countries have at least one of the 108 remaining clubs. Austria has four clubs left. Switzerland (three left), Greece (three left), Denmark (two left), and Scotland (three left) could also pass Israel. For this season so far, Israel is 36th with 1.875. Kazakhstan (one left), Kosovo (none left), Azerbaijan (one left), Ireland (one left), Iceland (one left), Montenegro (none left), Latvia (one left) will be the easiest countries to pass, but Maccabi Tel Aviv will have hard work to get Israel among the top half of leagues for this season. The top fifteen leagues get their second place club in the league path qualifying, so by the end of this season we will know if Israel gets that club in 2026-2027. There is a season of lag time for the country coefficients so that clubs know what they have to do in their domestic league in 2024-2025 to qualify for UEFA competitions in 2025-2026.
Maccabi Tel Aviv's schedule is at Braga of Portugal on 26 September, neutral against Midtjylland of Denmark on 3 October, neutral against Real Sociedad of Spain on 24 October, at Ajax of Netherlands on 7 November, at Besiktas of Turkiye on 28 November, neutral against RFS Riga of Latvia on 12 December, at Bodo/Glimt of Norway on 23 January, and neutral against Porto of Portugal on 30 January. The first two matchdays are on consecutive midweeks, and the last two matchdays are on consecutive midweeks. In seasons with a group stage, it did not play on consecutive midweeks. Because there are eight games instead of six, the League Stage ends in January, which used to be the only month that never had UEFA club games.
https://www.flashscore.com/match/l6vjl6S8/#/match-summary is for Maccabi Tel Aviv's Europa League's League Stage opener at Braga of Portugal, who is in their tenth consecutive Europa League. Because of Benfica and Porto, it is hard for Braga to reach the Champions League. Braga is 9-2-2 in their last 13 Europa League home games at a stadium that holds 30,286. The odds make these probabilities: Braga win: 61.8 percent Draw: 21.0 percent Maccabi Tel Aviv win: 17.2 percent
Braga 2-1 Maccabi Tel Aviv Osher Davida scored in the 30th minute, and Maccabi Tel Aviv led for a majority of the game, in what could have been an impressive win. Braga's Bruma scored in the 88th and 90+5th. Maccabi Tel Aviv had a man ejected for a second yellow in the 90+8th, and a man ejected for a second yellow in the 90+9th, so they will be suspended for the next game, which is against Midtjylland of Denmark in Belgrade, Serbia on 3 October. With the new schedule, clubs can have UEFA league stage games in consecutive midweeks, which did not happen when the competitions had group stages. Braga dominated the statistics in the second half. In the first half, each club had 1 shot on goal. In the second half, Braga had 9 shots on goal to make 10, and Maccabi Tel Aviv did not have any more shots on goal.
Maccabi Tel Aviv 0-2 Midtjylland of Denamrk (in Belgrade, Serbia) Maccabi Tel Aviv led in possession and passes. Maccabi Tel Aviv had twice as many shots 20 to 10, but Midtjylland had twice as many shots on goal 8 to 4. The goals were in the 39th and 89th. There were no penalty kicks or red cards. Maccabi Tel Aviv's Issouf Sissokho got a yellow card that got him suspended for the next game, which is against Real Sociedad of Spain on 24 October. Like today, that game will be in Belgrade, Serbia. Maccabi Tel Aviv is one of 6 of the 36 clubs that lost their first two games. Israeli clubs in UEFA competitions, the New York Red Bulls, Manchester United, Genoa, and the United States Men's National Team are soccer teams I root for that have not been playing well recently.