Maccabi Haifa soccer team advances to playoff for qualification to Champions League

Beating Slovakia’s Slovan Bratislava 5-2 on aggregate, Israeli champions to face Switzerland’s strong Young Boys next for chance to reach group stage for 2nd straight year

Michael Bachner is a news editor at The Times of Israel

Maccabi Haifa's Surinamese midfielder Tjaronn Chery celebrates with teammates after scoring the opener during the UEFA Champions League group H football match between Israel's Maccabi Haifa and France's Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at the Sammy Ofer stadium in the city of Haifa on September 14, 2022. (RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP)
Illustrative: Maccabi Haifa's Surinamese midfielder Tjaronn Chery celebrates with teammates after scoring the opener during the UEFA Champions League group H football match between Israel's Maccabi Haifa and France's Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at the Sammy Ofer stadium in the city of Haifa on September 14, 2022. (RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP)

Israel’s top soccer team Maccabi Haifa completed a victory over Slovakia’s league champions on Tuesday, qualifying for a playoff with Swiss champion BSC Young Boys on the right to play in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, the continent’s top tournament for clubs.

Haifa beat ŠK Slovan Bratislava 3-1 in front of the home crowd at the team’s Sammy Ofer Stadium, completing a 5-2 win on aggregate.

Haifa will host Young Boys on August 23 and will play the second match in Bern on August 29. If the Israeli champions beat their strong Swiss rivals, they will qualify for the Champions League group stage for the fourth time and for the second straight year, becoming the first Israeli club to achieve any of those feats.

Holding a promising 2-1 lead from the first game, Maccabi Haifa had a slow start to Tuesday’s game but soon took control of the midfield, and a delightful string of passes ended with Frantzdy Pierrot scoring a close-range header in the 29th minute.

Another series of passes in the first half’s stoppage time resulted in Haifa’s second goal, scored by Dia Saba.

The second half was mostly garbage time, and the Slovaks took advantage of Haifa’s lackluster play in 85th minute, with Marko Tolić scoring from the edge of the penalty area.

But Haifa’s final nail in the coffin was scored by Dean David on the third minute of stoppage time. All the three goals by Haifa were scored with assists by Tjaronn Chery.

The next rivals are expected to be much more challenging to beat. Young Boys, the national Swiss champions in five of the last six seasons, have a budget that is over three times bigger than Haifa’s and have qualified to the Champions League group stage twice since 2018.

Even if Maccabi Haifa loses the matchup, however, the team will play in the group stage of the lesser but still prestigious UEFA Europa League.

Last year, Haifa played in the Champions League group stage, starting with a win over Italy’s Juventus and a solid performance against France’s star-studded Paris Saint-Germain that ended in a loss. However, that campaign ended with humiliating losses, 7-2 to PSG and 6-1 to Portugal’s Benfica, ending in last place.

Haifa also previously played in the group stage in 2009-2010 and in 2002-2003. No Israeli club has ever qualified for the last 16.

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