Maccabi aren't quite there (yet), but here's a preview of all the potential rivals in the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League
All eyes are on September, all ears hoping to hear the famous Champions League anthem ring out at Bloomfield Stadium. But before that happens, a number of hurdles will still have to be overcome along the way. First and foremost, Maccabi will have to complete the job started last week with a victory in the first leg of the second qualifying round against Andorran champions Santa Coloma. But by tomorrow sometime after 1pm, the Israeli champions will already know who their potential opponents will be in the next round, if they do get that far. At that time, UEFA will hold at their headquarters in the town of Nyon in Switzerland the draw for the 3rd round of qualifying matches. This year Maccabi Tel Aviv will be one of the ten seeded sides for the draw and will face a club with a lower UEFA coefficient than themselves.
In addition to Maccabi's first leg tie against Santa Coloma, sixteen other second round matches were played in the last two days. Lining up were nine of Maccabi's potential third round opponents. A tenth, Danish side Aalborg, start their European campaign in the third qualifying round. Here's a look at potential rivals.
MK Maribor (Slovenia) / HSK Zrinjski (Bosnia)
Second round (first leg): The Slovenian champions, much like Maccabi, reached the Europa League round of 32 last year. In the first leg they fought out a goalless draw in Bosnia.
HJK Helsinki (Finland) / FK Rabotnicki (FYR Macedonia)
Second round (first leg): Maccabi still have pleasant memories of the Finnish champions in the group stage in 2004/5. They may be on their way to another encounter with the Israeli champions after holding their Macedonian opponents to a goalless draw in Macedonia.
Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) / HB Torshavn (Faroe Islands)
Second round (first leg): The minnows from the far north will require a minor miracle after the Serbian champions jumped to a 3-0 lead after the first leg in Belgrade.
FC Aktobe (Kazakhstan) / FC Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia)
Second round (first leg): After having played both Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Tel Aviv in recent years, are Aktobe on their way to face yet another Israeli opponent? Much like Maccabi, they'll be looking at least to preserve a precious one away-goal advantage into their second leg in Kazakhstan against the Georgian titleholders from Tiblisi.
FK Ventspils (Latvia) / MalmO FF (Sweden)
Second round (first leg): This proved to be one of the most closely contested ties of the second round, with the first leg in Sweden finishing in a goalless draw. Both sides have it all to play for in the return leg next Wednesday in Latvia.
