Despite the new tensions in recent days between Israel and Palestine, OGC Nice will travel well to the Bloomfield stadium next Thursday to face Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the first leg of the Europa Conference League play-offs. The Israeli club emerged victorious Thursday evening from the third preliminary round against Aris Salonika, despite a 2-1 defeat in Greece. The advantage taken in the first leg (2-0) allows the most successful club in Israel to find the Aiglons for a place in the group stage of the C4.
Israel’s most successful club
24 league titles, 24 Israel Cups lifted, Maccabi Tel Aviv is quite simply the club with the busiest showcase in the country. Founded in 1906, Maccabi has especially inflated its prize list in the last century and its supremacy is further challenged in the 21st century. The last league title dates back to 2020 and last season the Tel Aviv club finished 3rd behind Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Beer-Sheva, which the Gym had faced in the Europa League two years ago.
A squad with the best Israeli players
When you look at Maccabi Tel Aviv’s squad, few names catch the eye. Some have nevertheless evolved in the major European championships, such as the Spanish defender Enric Saborit, trained at Athletic Bilbao, the Portuguese midfielder André Geraldes, trained at Sporting Portugal or the Croatian striker Stipe Perica, who notably passed through Udinese in Serie A. (71 games / 11 goals). 80% of the workforce is made up of Israeli players and we find in particular the best players in the country such as defender Nir Bitton (39 caps / 3 goals) who played for Celtic Glasgow for a long time (271 games) before returning home this summer . Same for local icon Eran Zahavi, the striker of the Israeli selection (70 caps / 33 goals), who wore the colors of PSV Eindhoven last season in the Netherlands before also returning to the country this summer. It was he who scored the qualifying goal on Thursday night in Greece, after having already scored in the first leg.
A coach back on the bench
Appointed on the bench this summer, the Serbian coach Vladimir Ivic (45) does not discover the places. The former attacking midfielder from Yugoslavia in the early 2000s (7 caps) has already coached Maccabi Tel Aviv for two seasons between 2018 and 2020, winning both league titles during his stint. With a very high points average (2.25 points/game) and a prolific attack, the coach opened the doors of England. The Watford club, relegated to the 2nd division, appointed him to their bench in August 2020. But the experience was short-lived and the Serb was dismissed six months later (10 wins in 22 games). Since then, the Serb had not found a bench and here he is back in a club that has not won the league title since his departure. He has been evolving since the start of the European campaign in 3-5-2 with a very dense midfield.
The Bloomfield stadium was intended to host OGC Nice this summer
The lair of Maccabi Tel Aviv has already heard French spoken. Renovated in 2019, this stadium which can accommodate nearly 30,000 spectators, notably hosted the last two trophies of the champions. Last season Jocelyn Gourvennec’s Losc won 1-0 against PSG. A few weeks ago, the Parisian club regained their trophy by beating FC Nantes, winner of the Coupe de France, against… Gym. After the disappointment of May, the Nice club will therefore try to get on the right track with a view to qualifying for the C4, in this lair which also hosts the other two clubs from Tel Aviv. Facing Aris Salonika in the first leg of the third preliminary round, nearly 22,000 Israeli supporters were present to push behind their team.