Tomorrow at 10.05 p.m. Israel time, Maccabi Tel Aviv will face French Cup winners Bordeaux in their second Europa League group stage match. Meet the competition
After eight matchweeks of the 2013/14 season, French giants and Maccabi's opponents in their second Europa League group stage match FC Girondins de Bordeaux find themselves in unknown territory. For a club more accustomed to the upper regions of the Ligue 1 table, their current intimacy with the relegation zone, just seven points from their first eight matches, is an unfamiliar experience. And their first Europa League group stage defeat at the hands of German side Eintracht Frankfurt has done nothing to improve their "spirits", a particularly discouraging situation for a city renowned for its wines.
So, are the odds with Maccabi, or would caution be advised? Have a closer look at Maccabi's rivals in their second Europa League group stage match and then decide for yourselves.
History
In addition to six championships, four French Cups, three League Cups and three French "Super Cups", Bordeaux also have 174 European matches in their resume. It may be true that in Europe they have won "only" the Intertoto Cup, and that was almost twenty years ago in 1995, but they've also reached the finals of the UEFA Cup and made four appearances in the group stages of the Champions League. And in the last of those appearances they twice beat a different Maccabi, the one from Haifa, in their only encounter to date with an Israeli football club. And what history of Bordeaux would be complete without mentioning one of their star players of the early to mid-90's, world famous French international Zinedine Zidane.
Last season
Bordeaux returned last season to European competition after a break of two years and finished top of Europa League group D, ahead of English side Newcastle United, Portuguese club Marítimo and the Belgian Club Brugge. Much like their initial 3-0 loss this year in Frankfurt, last year they also suffered a 3-0 defeat in their second group match at Newcastle. A considerable blow but one they recovered from in style with three wins and one draw in their final four matches, leaving them top of the group. In the first knock-out round they defeated Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kyiv and their progress was only halted in the last sixteen by the eventual finalists, the Portuguese side Benfica Lisbon.
By contrast, their league season was nothing to write home about, finishing seventh in the Ligue 1 table, their poorest finish since the 2004/05 season. Their ticket to the Europa League was earned by winning the Coupe de France (French Cup) last May in a dramatic 3-2 victory over Evian, who finished nine places below them in the Ligue 1 table, in front of 80,000 spectators at the Stade de France Stadium in the French capital.
This season
The 2013/14 season did not get off to the start the Frenchmen had hoped for. Their loss to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint Germain in the French "Super Cup" may have been met with some understanding, but ten matches into the season in all competition it's their league form that has been the most disappointing. After eight league matches they find themselves just one goal above the relegation zone, seven points taken from a single win, four draws and three losses. For two of those lost points they have to thank Israeli international striker Eden Ben Bassat, who scored the equaliser in Bordeaux's 1-1 draw against Toulouse in matchweek two. Their disappointing 3-0 loss to Frankfurt only deepened their troubles and in facing Maccabi Tel Aviv they'll be after only their second win this season in all competitions.
Star players
The hero of last season's French Cup was their six-foot, four-inch Malian striker Cheick Diabate, who scored twice, including the winning goal in the dying moments of the match. They were just two of his seventeen goals in all competitions last season, an average of one goal every two matches. Four of those goals were scored in European competition, making him Bordeaux's second highest European scorer, behind Brazilian strike partner Jussie Ferreira Vieira, at Bordeaux since 2007, who has seven. Diabate has already scored three league goals this season.
Bordeaux's most veteran European star is the 31 year-old French defender Marc Planus. The rock at the heart of the Bordeaux defence has never played for any other club and has 42 European appearances to his credit. Another French veteran is Bordeaux's new captain, goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso, in his fifth year with the club. And a further anchor in the Bordeaux side is central midfielder Ludovic Obraniak, born in France but playing his international football for Poland. He joined the club in the 2011/12 season and has been one of the club's main hatchet men ever since, finishing last season with seven goals and five assists and adding yet another goal this season. Finally, this looks like being a breakthrough year for Bordeaux's young Senegalese striker Henri Saivet, who has already scored three times for the French side this season, including a spectacular free kick against fellow Ligue 1 side SC Bastia.
*photograph courtesy of the official FC Girondins de Bordeaux website
