Maccabi Tel Aviv to face Chelsea in Champions League

Team draws Roman Abramovich’s English champions, Porto of Portugal and Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine in group stage of Europe’s top soccer competition

By ToI Staff 27 August 2015, 9:11 pm

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Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich (right) applauds as striker Didier Drogba holds up the Champions League trophy, May 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Maccabi Tel Aviv can expect some tough matches in the group stages of the Champions League this year, after a Thursday draw put the Israeli soccer team in the same group as English team Chelsea, Portugal’s Porto, and Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine.

Chelsea won the Champions League three years ago (having failed in the final in 2008 under Israeli coach Avram Grant). The current English champions are managed by the colorful José Mourinho and owned by Russian-Jewish billionaire Roman Abramovich, a frequent visitor to Israel and recently an investor in a Tel Aviv hotel.

Maccabi made it through to the group stages of the prestigious European competition on Tuesday, after tying 1-1 with FC Basel in a second leg home game at the Bloomfield Stadium. The 24th minute goal by Eran Zahavi was just enough to push the team through.

“We are with the big boys and it is going to be a tough ride,” Maccabi Tel Aviv sports director Jordi Cruyff said following Tuesday’s game.

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Eran Zahavi celebrates his goal during the UEFA Champions League play-off round second leg soccer match against Switzerland's FC Basel at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv on August 25, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) — Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Eran Zahavi celebrates his goal during the UEFA Champions League play-off round second leg soccer match against Switzerland’s FC Basel at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv on August 25, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

In the competition, the four teams in each of the eight groups will now play each other at home and away, with the winning team and the runner-up going through to the knock out stages.

Chelsea are the current holders of the Premier League title in England. Porto came second in Portugal’s national soccer league last season, while Dynamo Kiev, Ukraine’s most popular club, has won more national competitions than any other team in the country. If Maccabi picks up any points at all against any of these teams, it will have reason to feel proud.