Maccabi arrive in the Greek town of Tripoli ahead of Thursday night's tie against local side Asteras
After a disqualification in last year's Champions League playoff line-up spared them an encounter with the Greek side PAOK in the parallel round of the Europa League, Maccabi Tel Aviv gained automatic entrance to the competition's group stage. This year no such fateful intervention has taken place and on Thursday night the Israeli champions will play the first of two legs against another Greek club, Asteras Tripoli, who finished last season fifth in the Greek Superleague, for a place in this season's coveted group stage. The match will be broadcast on Israel's channel 10 starting at 9pm.
Today the Maccabi squad boarded a direct flight to Athens and from there made their way by coach to their hotel outside the town of Tripoli. Security throughout the trip was provided the Greek police, who accompanied the team on their two hour journey from the Greek capital. Tomorrow the team will hold a pre-match press conference before conducting their final training ahead of the match at the local Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium. Updates from the team's sojourn in Greece and from the pre-match press conference will be posted as they come in on the official Maccabi Tel Aviv website and social networking sites.
