Who will be Maccabi Tel Aviv’s first European opponent this season? After winning the Israeli League championship the Yellow & Blue were drawn on Wednesday to face the winner of the first round qualifying match between Astana of Kazakhstan or Cluj from Romania. As of now the first leg will be played away, however, UEFA will determine the official and final dates of the two legged tie.
Maccabi will be part of the “Champions Route” where they along with 19 other teams will be drawn against each other. The Yellow & Blue have 16.00 points in the UEFA coefficient but will not be ranked which means they should be drawn against a stronger club, at least on paper.
The first leg of second round matches will take place July 23-24 while the return leg will be played the following week. The draw itself will occur on June 18, 2019.
In order to advance to the Champions League, Maccabi will need to advance past the second, third and playoff rounds. Should the Yellow & Blue not advance past the second round they will enter the third round of Europa League qualifying.
Know your potential opponents
Astana
Maccabi is familiar with Astana after meeting the Kazakhstan side in the 2017/18 Europa League Group Stages. The Yellow & Blue fell twice including the away match which was held on artificial turf. Striker Junior Kabananga who starred in the two legged tie was sold to a club in the Saudi league but has since returned on loan back to Astana. Left defensive back Dmitri Shmoko and Marin Tomasov both impressed against Maccabi are still plying their trade with the Kazakhstan squad while Patrick Twumasi has been replaced by Rangelo Janga. Astana has also changed coaches since last playing the Yellow & Blue and are now led by Ukrainian Roman Hryhorchuk who took over in the summer of 2018.
Astana are currently in the middle of their domestic league and after 16 Matchdays are at the top of the table with a 3-point lead over second place side Tobol but have also played two more matches than their closest rival.
Cluj
There is a familiar face playing for Cluj in one Ovidiu Hoban who had appeared for Hapoel Beer Sheva. Dan Petrescu is the Head Coach and arrived at the Romanian outfit in 2017/18 after primarily featuring as a boss of Asian clubs and won the league title. If the name Petrescu is familiar then you may remember when he played in Italy and England, featuring for Chelsea between 1995-2000.
George Țucudean is the main threat up front having scored 16 goals in 23 league matches and led the league in goals. In addition, Cluj recorded 18 clean sheets with Lithuanian keeper Giedrius Arlauskis and right back Cristian Manea being two of the main reasons.
Cluj battled FCSB Steaua București for the league championship which resulted in a photo finish as Cluj won the title by just two points. Just like Maccabi, Petrescu’s club hasn’t yet begun their season.
This will be the first time Maccabi will take part in Champions League qualification after three years. Last time, the Yellow & Blue advanced to play in the Group Stages of the competition after defeating Hibernians (Malta), Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic) an Basel (Switzerland) in the qualifying rounds.
