Maccabi Tel Aviv will begin their quest for a place in the group stage of the Champions League in a second round contest with Hungarian champions Gyori ETO FC
In the draw for the first two rounds of the Champions League qualifiers, held moments ago at UEFA headquarters in the Swiss city of Nyon, Maccabi Tel Aviv were paired with the unseeded Hungarian champions Győri ETO FC in one of 17 matches to be played over two legs in the second round. The Hungarians are easily the most intriguing side Maccabi could have drawn, at least for new head coach Paulo Sousa. His previous club Videoton FC came second in the Hungarian premier league to Győri, who won their fourth all-time league title and their first in 30 years. Győri also came close to the double, suffering a dramatic loss to Debreceni VSC in the Hungarian Cup final.
Maccabi's second round rivals represent the sixth largest city in Hungary, Győr, and play their home football at the ETO Park Stadium with a capacity for 16,000 spectators. The head coach of Győri ETO FC, whose kit is green and white, is Attila Pintér, who as a player made twenty appearances and scored three goals for the Huingarian national side and is currently in his fourth year as head coach of the newly crowned Hungarian champions. The first leg between the two sides will be played in Hungary on either the 16th or 17th of July, with the return leg a week later in Israel.
After the draw, Maccabi head coach Paulo Sousa had this to say to the official Maccabi Tel Aviv website: "It's a very tough draw against a strong side I know quite well. Győri has had the same coach at the helm for the past three years and he has succeeded in molding the club to his brand of football. I look forward to returning to the country where I coached Videoton for two seasons and I hope the success I achieved there will provide the impetus to qualify for the next round". Maccabi's sports director, Jordi Cruyff, added: "We have the greatest respect for our opponents and we'll be getting started right away with studying the club so we can prepare ourselves properly".
If Maccabi Tel Aviv make it through round two of the Champions League qualifiers, they will at the very least ensure their place in the final play-off round of qualification for the Europa League. For more detailled information on Maccabi's road through those qualifiers, and for the dates of all the matches, click here.
