In the Champions League, Maccabi Tel Aviv (37.500) is seeded in the Second Qualifying Round against Pafos of Cyprus (11.125). Maccabi Tel Aviv will "host" the second leg in Serbia. If Maccabi Tel Aviv advances, they will be seeded in the Third Qualifying Round, and they will be seeded in the Playoff Round if at least one of Copenhagen of Denmark, Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda) of Serbia, or Ferencvaros of Hungary is eliminated in the Second Qualifying Round. The draw for the Playoff Round is done before the Third Qualifying Round, so one of those three clubs losing in the Third Qualifying Round would not make Maccabi Tel Aviv be seeded in the Playoff Round. In the Europa League, Hapoel Be'er Sheva (16.500) is seeded in the First Qualifying Round against Levski Sofia of Bulgaria (4.500). If they advance to the Second Qualifying Round, Hapoel Be'er Sheva will be unseeded and "host" the first leg against Braga of Portugal (46.000). Levski Sofia hosted today's first leg, and nobody scored. Levski Sofia got a man ejected for a second yellow in the 70th, and Hapoel Be'er Sheva got a man ejected for a second yellow in the 90+5th. Levski Sofia dominated shots (11 to 5), shots on goal (5 to 0), and free kicks (31 to 12). Flash Score does not have some statistics like expected goals. In the Conference League, Beitar Jerusalem (6.325) and Maccabi Haifa (18.000) start in the Second Qualifying Round. Beitar Jerusalem will play Sutjeska Niksic of Montenegro (5.500) or Dynamo Brest of Belarus (4.000). Maccabi Haifa will play Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino of Belarus (4.000) or Rabotnicki Skopje of North Macedonia (1.233), so there could be two matchups against clubs from Belarus. There was a big tie of clubs with a 4.000 that made some of them seeded, and some of them unseeded in the First Qualifying Round. Beitar Jerusalem was the bottom seeded club in the Second Qualifying Round, which had its draw done before the First Qualifying Round is played. Both Israeli clubs will have the "home" leg second at a site to be announced. If they advance, Maccabi Haifa will be seeded in the Third Qualifying Round and Playoff Round, and Beitar Jerusalem will be unseeded in the Third Qualifying Round and Playoff Round.
It was a bad start for Israeli clubs as Hapoel Be'er Sheva 1-1 Levski Sofia of Bulgaria that was played in Hungary ended with Levski Sofia winning penalty kicks 3-1. Neither club scored until extra time, and Hapoel Be'er Seva went down a man while up 1-0 and could not hold on.
Pafos of Cyprus 1-1 Maccabi Tel Aviv In this season's third game by an Israeli club, while having a much higher coefficient in every game, Israeli clubs have 0 wins, 3 draws (including a loss in penalty kicks), 0 losses, and 2 goals scored. Both goals were late. Pafos took the lead in the 81st when Mons Bassouamina scored a rebound. Luckily there was a lot of stoppage time, and Elad Madmon equalized in the 90+10th. Pafos was a small favorite, but the odds were close enough that a Maccabi Tel Aviv win was considered more likely than a draw, whereas in most games the least likely outcome is one team winning. Maccabi Tel Aviv had better statistics with 61 percent of possession, 58.3 percent of shots (7 to 5), 60 percent of shots on goal (3 to 2), a higher percent of shots that were on goal (3/7 = 42.9 percent to 2/5 = 40 percent), 70.7 percent of combined free kicks and corner kicks (29 to 12), 23.5 percent of fouls (4 to 13), 20 percent of offsides (1 to 4), and 37.5 percent of yellow cards (3 to 5). In the first half there were three yellow cards, which were all for Maccabi Tel Aviv. The next card was in the 75th, and Pafos got five yellows from the 75th on without Maccabi Tel Aviv getting a yellow in the second half. Maccabi Tel Aviv had 57 percent of possession in the first half, and 64 percent of possession in the second half. Pafos committed 8 fouls in the second half, and Maccabi Tel Aviv did not commit a foul in the second half. The second leg is Wednesday 30 July.
I watched the highlights. Pafos's goal was not a rebound like I read and posted. Pafos kicked the ball off a Maccabi Tel Aviv player, which made it go way up, and then scored a bicycle kick. You could say there was a deflection before the shot, but it was not a rebound. I hate when different sources have different statistics, and it is not something that would be acceptable in American sports. Here are differences between Flash Score's statistics that I previously posted and Cypriot TV. Maccabi Tel Aviv had 61 percent of possession according to Flash Score, and 59 percent according to Cypriot TV. Pafos had 2 shots on goal according to Flash Score, and 3 shots on goal according to Cypriot TV. Pafos had 13 fouls according to Flash Score, Maccabi Tel Aviv had 4 fouls according to Flash Score, and both clubs committed 2 more fouls than that according to Cypriot TV. I was too late to edit my previous post, so I made a new post.
In the Conference League Second Qualifying Round first legs, all three Israeli clubs were away. I chose not to spend time typing statistics. AEK Athens of Greece 1-0 Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva had the higher coefficient, but they were unseeded because the draw was done before the Europa League First Qualifying Round when Hapoel Be'er Sheva was eliminated by Levski Sofia, who has a higher coefficient than AEK Athens. Clubs with lower coefficients can be seeded because of who they beat in a previous round, but I had not thought about the possibility of a club with a higher coefficient being unseeded because of the previous round. Torpedo Zhodino of Belarus 1-1 Macacbi Haifa Torpedo Zhodino has a 4.000 coefficient, so I would have liked a win, and I will be mad if Maccabi Haifa does not win the neutral site second leg. Sutjeska Niksic of Montenegro 1-2 Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem trailed 1-0, and scored the winning goal in the 87th.
Maccabi Tel Aviv 0-1 Pafos of Cyprus (1-2 aggregate) in Backa Topola, Serbia Maccabi Tel Aviv's Yoav Gerafi was subbed off injured in the 13th. He was replaced by Ofek Melika, who got a straight red in the 30th. Pafos's Jaja scored the only goal in the 40th. Pafos had more first half shots on goal 3 to 1 that was mostly at even strength, and Maccabi Tel Aviv had more second half shots on goal 3 to 1 while down a man. Maccabi Tel Aviv goes to the Europa League Third Qualifying Round, where they should beat Hamrun Spartans of Malta, who hosts the first leg on 7 August.
In the Conference League Second Qualifying Round second legs at neutral sites: Beitar Jerusalem 5-2 Sutjeska Niksic of Montenegro (7-3 aggregate) Beitar Jerusalem trailed the game 2-0 and trailed the aggregate 3-2 before scoring 5 goals. Hapoel Be'er Sheva 0-0 AEK Athens of Greece (0-1 aggregate) Hapoel Be'er Sheva did not score in either leg, and they are the first Israeli club to be eliminated. Maccabi Haifa 3-0 Torpedo Zhodino of Belarus (4-1 aggregate) Statistics were close, including shots and shots on goal being equal, but Maccabi Haifa got the goals. In the Conference League Third Qualifying Round, Beitar Jerusalem plays Riga of Latvia, who hosts the first leg, and Maccabi Haifa plays Raków Częstochowa of Poland, who hosts the first leg. Israeli clubs have been lucky that out of four aggregates in the Second Qualifying Round of the Europa League or Conference League, and three aggregates in the Third Qualifying Round of the Europa League or Conference League, Israeli clubs were or are away in the first leg and at a neutral site in the second leg every time. Rakow's second leg is not over, but they lead the aggregate 5-1.
Most Europa League games are on Thursdays, but Maccabi Tel Aviv played their Third Qualifying Round first leg at Hamrun Spartans of Malta. The odds made probabilities of 73.6 percent for a Maccabi Tel Aviv win, 17.0 percent for a draw, and 9.4 percent for a Hamrun win. Maccabi Tel Aviv had unimpressive statistics. First I saw them with a majority of possession, but fewer shots 5 to 4, and neither club had a shot on goal. Then Hamrun took a majority of possession, and had the first 2 shots on goal. Hamrun had Ndri Koffi score a penalty kick in the 71st. Maccabi Tel Aviv's Roy Revivo tied it in the 79th, and Maccabi Tel Aviv's Elad Madmon scored in the 90+6th to win 2-1. Hamrun had better statistics with 53 percent of possession, 57.1 percent of shots (12 to 9), 60 percent of shots on goal (3 to 2), and 67.3 percent of combined corner kicks and free kicks (33 to 16). Maccabi Tel Aviv had the only 2 saves. The clubs combined to have the first 2 shots on goal be saved, and the last 3 shots on goal to score. Both clubs got 3 yellow cards, and there were no red cards. The second leg is Thursday 14 August in Backa Topola, Serbia. If Maccabi Tel Aviv reaches the Playoff Round, they will have the neutral site leg first against the loser of the Champions League Third Qualifying Round matchup between Dynamo Kyiv of Ukraine and Pafos of Cyprus. Maccabi Tel Aviv and Pafos could play each other in two qualifying rounds. In 2013-2014, Maccabi Tel Aviv lost to Basel of Switzerland in the Champions League Playoff Round and Europa League Round of 32, but that is different than playing the same opponent in two qualifying rounds. Considering how low a coefficient Pafos has, it would be very disappointing to lose to Pafos twice. As long as Maccabi Tel Aviv advances over Hamrun, they will play in the Europa League or Conference League's League Phase. https://www.flashscore.com/match/football/jcJ0c28j/#/match-summary/match-summary is about today's game.
Riga of Latvia 3-0 Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem had a 6.325 coefficient, and Riga had a 10.000. I did not know that any Latvian club had a coefficient in double-digits. Riga was a small favorite, but they won by enough to feel confident going into next week's neutral site leg. Riga had better statistics in the first half, but with 1 shot on goal and no goals. Riga dominated the second half, and finished with 66 percent of possession, and more shots on goal 6 to 1. Riga scored in the 47th, 63rd, and 69th. It looks like Israel will have at most two clubs reach a league phase. Maccabi Haifa just started at Raków Częstochowa of Poland.
Raków Częstochowa of Poland 0-1 Maccabi Haifa Rakow was tied for the top unseeded club with an 8.000 coefficient, Maccabi Haifa has a 18.000, and Rakow was a big favorite, showing that the oddsmakers disagreed with the coefficients. Ethane Azoulay scored the only goal in the 61st. Rakow was better at most statistics, but not shots on target or goals. https://www.flashscore.com/match/football/fe35LCCN/#/match-summary/match-statistics/0 has more statistics than Flash Score had about Beitar Jerusalem's loss. Rakow had 81.1 percent of expected goals (1.37 to 0.32), 55 percent of possession, 70 percent of shots (14 to 6), 44.4 percent of shots on target (4 to 5), a lower percent of shots that were on target (4/14 = 28.6 percent to 5/6 = 83.3 percent), 100 percent of big chances (2 to 0), 77.8 percent of combined free kicks and corner kicks (28 to 8), 72.7 percent of shots inside the box (8 to 3), 81.1 percent of touches in opposition box (30 to 7), 33.3 percent of accurate through passes (1 to 2), 100 percent of offsides (2 to 0), 54.6 percent of attempted passes (436 to 363), 57.1 percent of completed passes (366 to 275), a higher pass completion percentage (366/436 = 83.9 percent to 275/363 = 75.8 percent), 48.0 percent of attempted long passes (61 to 66), 59.3 percent of completed long passes (32 to 22), a higher long pass completion percentage (32/61 = 52.5 percent to 22/66 = 33.3 percent), 63.7 percent of attempted passes in final third (149 to 85), 71.2 percent of completed passes in final third (116 to 47), a higher pass completion percentage in the final third (116/149 = 77.9 percent to 47/85 = 55.3 percent), 74.3 percent of attempted crosses (26 to 9), 66.7 percent of completed crosses (6 to 3), a lower cross completion percentage (6/26 = 23.1 percent to 3/9 = 33.3 percent), 89.0 percent of expected assists (2.43 to 0.30), 51.1 percent of throw-ins (23 to 22), 23.1 percent of fouls (6 to 20), 24.3 percent of attempted tackles (9 to 28), 22.2 percent of successful tackles (4 to 14), a lower tackle success percentage (4/9 = 44.4 percent to 14/28 = 50 percent), 44.7 percent of duels won (42 to 52), 27.3 percent of clearances (15 to 40), 46.2 percent of interceptions (6 to 7), 0 percent of errors leading to shot (0 to 2), and 50 percent of saves (4 to 4). There were no penalty kicks or red cards. For the last four complete seasons and this season so far, Israel is 19th with a 26.500 country coefficient. For this season so far, Israel is tied for 20th through 26th with a 1.875.
Beitar Jerusalem 3-1 Riga of Latvia (3-4 aggregate) In Ploiesti, Romania, Beitar Jerusalem won and had better statistics, but it was not enough to make up for last week's 3-0 loss. https://www.flashscore.com/match/football/rL1lahyn/#/match-summary/match-statistics/0 has statistics. That was in the Conference League Third Qualifying Round, and it got Israel down from three to two clubs left out of four that Israel started with. Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-1 Hamrun Spartans of Malta (5-2 aggregate) In Backa Topola, Serbia, Hamrun's Emerson failed on a penalty kick in the 28th, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Ido Shahar scored in the 37th, Hamrun's Joseph Mbong scored in the 43rd, Shahar scored in the 45+2nd, and Maccabi Tel Aviv's Osher Davida scored in the 69th. https://www.flashscore.com/match/football/651mL50c/#/match-summary/match-statistics/0 has statistics, and Maccabi Tel Aviv's statistics were not impressive. That was in the Europa League Third Qualifying Round. Macacbi Haifa 0-2 Raków Częstochowa of Poland (1-2 aggregate) In Debrecen, Hungary, Peter Barath scored in the 45+1st to tie the aggregate, Maccabi Haifa's Lissav Eissat was ejected for a second yellow in the 55th, and Lamine Diaby-Fadiga scored a penalty kick in the 76th. Maccabi Haifa had 53 percent of possession and more passes, while Rakow was better in other statistics. Surprisingly, Maccabi Haifa had 47 percent of possession in the first half, and 60 percent of possession in the second half while down a man for most of it. https://www.flashscore.com/match/football/QwfyGjzo/#/match-summary/match-statistics/0 has statistics. That was in the Conference League Third Qualifying Round. It is disappointing to lose at a neutral site and be eliminated after an away win, and it is disappointing that Israel has only one club left. In the Europa League Playoff Round, Maccabi Tel Aviv will play Dynamo Kyiv of Ukraine. The leg that would have been in Israel is first. Ukranian clubs cannot host, so both games will be at neutral sites. Dynamo Kyiv has a 23.500 club coefficient for the last five complete seasons, which is much worse than they used to be. They had a 55.000 club coefficient for the five seasons before that. The games are on Thursday 21 August and 28 August. The League Phase draw will be the next day on 29 August.
Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-1 Dynamo Kyiv (in Backa Topola, Serbia) Maccabi Tel Aviv's Dor Peretz scored in the 12th, Dynamo Kyiv's Nazar Voloshyn scored in the 32, Dynamo Kyiv's Kostiantyn Vivcharenko got a straight red in the 50th, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Sagiv Jehezkel scored in the 58th, and Peretz scored in the 69th. Maccabi Tel Aviv was better at most statistics. Maccabi Tel Aviv was up a man for most of the second half, but Maccabi Tel Aviv had 60 percent of possession in each half, and committed 9 fouls in the second half to Dynamo Kyiv's 1. Maccabi Tel Aviv had 64 percent of shots (16 to 9), 69.2 percent of shots on target (9 to 4), a higher percent of shots that were on target (9/16 = 56.25 percent to 4/9 = 44.4 percent), 48.6 percent of combined corner kicks and free kicks (18 to 19), 25 percent of yellow cards (1 to 3), 0 percent of red cards (0 to 1), 50 percent of offsides (2 to 2), 50 percent of throw-ins (12 to 12), 65 percent of fouls (13 to 7), and 33.3 percent of saves (3 to 6). There were no penalty kicks. Flash Score does not have statistics about passes. I am hoping that Flash Score will have more statistics for the League Phase. The second leg is Thursday 28 August. Ukrainian clubs cannot host, and it will be in Lublin, Poland.
Dynamo Kyiv 1-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv in Lublin, Poland (2-3 aggregate) Dynamo Kyiv's Eduardo Guerrero, who played for four Israeli clubs including Maccabi Tel Aviv, scored in the 5th minute. Dynamo Kyiv needed one more goal to tie the aggregate and force extra time, but they did not get it. Dynamo Kyiv was a small favorite. Dynamo Kyiv had better statistics, but not domination. Dynamo Kyiv had 53 percent of possession, 62.5 percent of shots (10 to 6), 60 percent of shots on target (3 to 2), a lower percent of shots that were on target (3/10 = 30 percent to 2/6 = 33.3 percent), 51.0 percent of combined corner kicks and free kicks (25 to 24), 33.3 percent of yellow cards (1 to 2), 66.7 percent of offsides (2 to 1), 45.9 percent of throw-ins (17 to 20), 48.1 percent of fouls (13 to 14), and 50 percent of saves (2 to 2). Flash Score does not have statistics of big chances, shots inside the box, passes, crosses, interceptions, or duels won. There were no red cards or penalty kicks. Maccabi Tel Aviv did not get any coefficient points today, and the League Phase will be harder in the Europa League than it would have been in the Conference League. I cannot post all the Europa League clubs and their coefficients because some of today's games are still in progress. The draw is tomorrow.
The Europa League's League Phase draw had four pots of nine teams. Maccabi Tel Aviv's club coefficient was 18th, making them the bottom club in Pot 2. Each club plays one home and one away game against every pot including their own to make eight games. Maccabi Tel Aviv's opponents are Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia (neutral), at Aston Villa of England, Lyon of France (neutral), at PAOK of Greece, Midtjylland of Denmark (neutral), at SC Freiburg of Germany, Bologna of Italy (neutral), and at VfB Stuttgart of Germany. Those were two Pot 1 clubs, then two Pot 2 clubs, then two Pot 3 clubs, and then two Pot 4 clubs. Their average opponents' club coefficient is 35.8, which is the 14th easiest (or 23rd hardest) of 36 clubs. The order of the games was not announced yet. The League Phase starts on 24 and 25 September, and ends on 29 January 2026, which is right after my birthday. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025–26_UEFA_Europa_League is the Wikipedia page.
PAOK of Greece 0-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv The odds made PAOK be more likely to win, but still at 2.05 to 1. PAOK led in possession, shots, shots on target, shots inside the box, corner kicks, free kicks, touches in opposition box, long passes, passes in the final third, and cross. Maccabi Tel Aviv led in expected goals (xG), expected goals on target (xGOT), and big chances.
Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-3 Dinamo Zagreb in Serbia Maccabi Tel Aviv's Sayd Abu Farhi took the lead in the 14th, but Dinamo Zagreb scored in the 16th and 19th to take the lead, and in the 72nd.
Maccabi Tel Aviv 0-3 Midtjylland of Denmark (in Backa Topola, Serbia) Maccabi Tel Aviv is 32nd with 1 point from three games. They are ahead of the four teams that lost all three games. Maccabi Tel Aviv's next game is on 6 November at Aston Villa of England.
Aston Villa of England 2-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv is 34th with 1 point from 4 games. Nice of France and Rangers of Scotland lost all four games. Maccabi Tel Aviv's next game is Thursday 27 November against Lyon of France in Backa Topola, Serbia.