The draw for the First Round of the Europa League Qualifying took place today as it was determined that Maccabi Tel Aviv will play Ferencváros of Hungary in a two legged tie. The Yellow & Blue will look to advance to the European competition for the 3rd straight season and 5th overall in club history.
The first leg will take place on July 12th in Hungary while the return contest will be one week later on July 19th in Israel. Maccabi will begin their European campaign in the first round of qualifying and will be seeded all the way through qualification and most probably the playoff round.
Should Maccabi advance to the second round of Europa League qualifying, the matches will take place on July 26th while the return leg will be played on August 2nd.
Nemzeti Bajnokság I Hungary League Champions: Ferencváros
Ferencváros is known as one of the prestigious clubs in Hungary. In the mid 1990’s the team advanced to the Champions League Group Stages and faced the likes of Ajax and Real Madrid. Over the past few seasons, the Budapest based club has played in Europe but hasn’t been able to make it out of the second round of qualifying. The team plays at the Groupama Arena which holds 23,700 spectators.
Former German footballer Thomas Doll (Hamburg, Lazio, Frankfurt) is the club’s Head Coach while one of the most well known names in his squad is 39-year old Zoltán Gera who played in England for West Bromwich Albion and Fulham. Another familiar name is Tamás Priskin who played in the past for Maccabi Haifa.
Maccabi’s coach Vladan Ivic told the club’s official website: “Ferencvaros is the biggest and most prestigious club in Hungary but so is Maccabi in Israel. We are working hard to prepare for this tie against the Hungarians and will be ready for the first game on July 12th. Our aim at Maccabi will be to qualify to the next round”.
Should Maccabi advance to the second round of qualifying they will face either Radnički Niš from Serbia or the winner of UE Sant Julià of Andorra and Gzira United from Malta.
The Yellow & Blue will need to advance through four stages in order to reach the Europa League Group Stages and will be seeded through at least the Playoff Round.
