The draw for the group stage of the Europa League will be held this Friday in Monaco. Introducing Maccabi Tel Aviv's potential opponents
Two years after their first historic qualification for the Europa League, Maccabi Tel Aviv will be returning this Friday to the draw for the group stage of this prestigious European competition. The last time Maccabi reached this position, they were drawn in a very strong group with the likes of English stalwarts Stoke City, Turkish competitors Besiktas and the Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kyiv. This time around Stoke is absent from the competition, but Dynamo and Besiktas have both reached the return leg of the Europa League playoffs, the former sporting a 3-2 away lead against Kazakhstani side FC Aktobe, the latter returning to Turkey trailing Norwegian side Tromso 2-1. On Thursday night the list of 48 clubs participating in the group stage will be concluded, with Maccabi Tel Aviv joining seven other representatives of the top clubs on the continent who have already guaranteed their place on the list. After the list is finalised, the 48 qualifiers will then be divided into four pots according to their ranking based on the number of points they have accumulated in various competitions, with Maccabi Tel Aviv likely to land in the fourth and last pot.
With the draw approaching, the time has come to have a better look at some of Maccabi's potential rivals. With the return legs of the play-off rounds of both the Champions League and the Europa League still to be played, bear in mind that things may change before the draw takes place on Friday.
Automatically qualified opponents
In accordance UEFA's Europa League structure, the seven State Cup winners of the seven leading leagues in Europe received automatic qualification for the group stage of the Europa League. If one of those clubs qualifies for the group stage of the Champions League, their place is taken by another representative of the same country. Already placed are: Valencia (finished fifth in La Liga), Wigan (won the English FA Cup), Freiburg (finished fifth in the Bundesliga), Lazio (won the Coppa Italia), Vitoria de Guimaraes (won the Taca de Portugal), Bordeaux (won the Coupe de France) and Anzhi Makhachkala (finished third in the Russian Premier League).
Champions opponents
The ten teams that lose their Champions League play-off ties will automatically qualify for the group stage of the Europa League. With those play-offs yet to be completed, a number of attractive opponents are going into the return legs trailing their opponents. Ex-Maccabi Haifa midfielder Biram Kayal's new club, Scottish champions Celtic, lost 2-0 away to Kazakhstani champions Shakhter Karagandy and will have to win by three goals at home to avoid relegation to the Europa League. French club Lyon are in an even less enviable position, having lost 0-2 at home to Spanish side Real Sociedad and after Wednesday night may also find themselves in the Europa League group stages. AC Milan and Dutch side FC Eindhoven finished their first leg tie drawn 1-1 in Holland and whichever of them draws the short straw in Italy on Wednesday will represent an intriguing and weighty opponent in the Europa League. Maccabi's intended rival in the Europa League play-offs, the Greek side PAOK Thessaloniki, drew 1-1 against Schalke in Germany and on Tuesday will try to win the return leg in front of empty terraces in Greece. Other potential opponents: Portuguese side Pacos de Ferreira lost 1-4 at home to Russian side Zenith St. Petersburg in their first leg tie, Slovenian champions Maribor lost 3-1 away to Czech champions Viktoria Plzen and Bulgarian title winners Ludogorets Razgrad have a 2-4 deficit going into their second leg tie in Switzerland with Maccabi's third round nemesis FC Basel.
"Israeli" opponents
Heading the list of "Israeli" opponents in the competition is the Belgian side Standard Liege, whose Israeli head coach Guy Luzon lead the young Israeli national team until this past summer. Two Israeli players, defender Tal Ben Haim and striker Dudu Biton also grace the side that beat the Greek club Atromitos 0-2 away in the first leg of their Europa League play-off tie and they will return to Liege on Thursday hoping to finish off the job. Much like the Israeli enclave in Belgium, their counterparts at the Russian side Rubin Kazan, including Israeli midfielder Bibras Natkho, helped their side beat Norwegian champions Molde away by the same margin and will hope to progress after the return leg in Russia. Moldavian side Sheriff Tiraspol, with Israeli midfielder Kobi Moyal, scored a precious away goal in their first leg draw 1-1 against Serbian side FK Vojvodina and will return to Moldavia knowing a goalless draw will suffice to send them through. After losing their first leg tie 4-1 away to Spanish club Sevilla, Polish side Slask Wroclaw, with Israeli defender Oded Gabish coming off the substitute's bench and former Hapoel Tel Aviv striker Elroy Cohen looking on from the terraces, are likely to be watching the group stage of the Europa League on the telly.
Familiar opponents
Four of Maccabi Tel Aviv's potential rivals will be familiar faces from earlier contests. Swiss side Grasshoppers knocked Maccabi out of the final qualifying round for the group stage of the Champions League in 1995. This year, though, they lost 1-2 at home to Italian opponents Fiorenta in their Europa League play-off first leg and their prospects of winning in Italy seem remote. Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia, who knocked Maccabi out of the qualifiers for the now moribund UEFA Cup in 2005, drew 1-1 away to Belgian club Zulte Waregem in their first play-off tie and will take their valuable away goal with them back to Cyprus for the return leg. Two familiar Champions League hopefuls may wind up in the Europa League as well. Turkish side Fenerbahce, who in 1996 eliminated Maccabi from the Champions League competition before the group stage, lost 0-3 at home to Arsenal in the first leg of this year's Champions League play-offs. And if that weren't trouble enough, legal proceedings are outstanding against the club that may remove them from European competition altogether. Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb, whom Maccabi knocked out of the 2001/02 UEFA Cup, are now trailing Austrian title winners Austria Vienna after a 0-2 home loss in the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie and may also play their European football in the Europa League this season.
The draw for the group stage of the Europa League will be held at 2pm on Friday August 30th in Monaco and will be broadcast live on Israeli sports channels Sport 1 and Sport 2. Live updates from the draw will be streamed on the Maccabi Tel Aviv Facebook page.
To purchase series tickets for Maccabi's home games in the group stage of the Europa League, click here.
