Maccabi Tel Aviv are in the group stages once again and guaranteed to play European football until the winter as today’s inaugural Conference League Group stage draw determined the opponents the team will face over the coming months. The draw which took place in Istanbul saw Maccabi drawn against Austrian outfit Lask Linz, Alashkert of Armenia and Finland’s HJK Helsinki.
Maccabi’s coach Patrick van Leeuwen said after the draw: “I think we were drawn into a very interesting group. We receive opponents from countries different to the ones we played against in Europe last season and also opponents who are at the same level as Maccabi which will make it very interesting to play them in the coming months. If we look at our opponents, they all qualified to the group stages and proved they deserve their place on merit. We will do everything possible in order to get the best results in every game and begin analysing them an prepare to face them”.
Ahead of Sunday’s League opener away to Bnei Sachnin, Van Leeuwen added: “We are preparing to play an important match in Sachnin that kicks off our domestic league season. All our focus at the moment is on Sunday’s game as we will come prepared to open a new campaign”.
The opponents
LASK was the team drawn from Pot A as the Austrian club which comes from the city of Linz finished fourth in last season’s Austrian top flight to earn a place in the Conference League. This season LASK began their European campaign by knocking out Serbia’s Vojvodina (7-1 on aggregate) and Scottish outfit St Johsntone (3-1 on aggregate). This is the third time in succession the Austrian club reaches the group stages as the two seasons ago they advanced to the Europa League round of 16 where they were eliminated by Manchester United. LASK played five league matches so far this season and are ranked in sixth place with six points.
Armenian Champions Alashkert became the first club to represent their country at a European group stage. Alashkert which originates from the capital of Yerevan, reached the Conference League group stage after starting their campaign in the qualifying phase of the Europa League where they reached the Playoff stage after knocking out Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan. Alashkert were beaten 1-0 by Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers to drop directly into the Conference League group stages.
The Armenian outfit has no less than 14 foreign players, but in terms of the domestic season Alashkert had an indifferent start to the season with 1 point from the first three league matches.
Maccabi met HJK Helsinki in the 2004/05 Champions League qualifying campaign on the way to a first appearance in the group stage. The Finnish outfit is the leading club in their country and arrive as the Champions of Finland.
Helsinki began their European campaign in the Champions League qualifying stages and were eliminated in the 2nd round by Malmo. HJK then met Nefci Baku in the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League and after a 5-2 aggregate victory advanced to the Playoffs but were eliminated by Turkish giants Fenerbahce (6-2) to reach the Conference League group stages. Similar to most Scandinavian clubs, the Finnish League is well underway as after 17 rounds Helsinki are currently ranked top with a significant gap from second place.
Group A: LASK (AUT), Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR), Alashkert FC (ARM), HJK Helsinki (FIN).
Group B: Gent (BEL), FK Partizan Belgrade (SRB), Flora Tallinn (EST), Anorthosis Famagusta FC (CYP).
Group C: AS Roma (ITA), FC Zorya Luhansk (UKR), PFC CSKA-Sofia (BUL), FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR).
Group D: AZ Alkmaar (NED), CFR Cluj (ROU), FK Jablonec (CZE), Randers FC (DEN).
Group E: Slavia Prague (CZE), Feyenoord Rotterdam (NED), FC Union Berlin (GER), Maccabi Haifa (ISR)
Group F: FC Copenhagen (DEN), PAOK Thessaloniki (GRE), SK Slovan Bratislava (SVK), Lincoln Red Imps (GIB).
Group G: Tottenham Hotspur (ENG), Stade Rennes FC (FRA), Vitesse (NED), NS Mura (SVN).
Group H: FC Basel 1893 (SUI), Qarabağ FK (AZE), Kairat Almaty (KAZ), Omonoia FC (CYP)
How does the group stage work?
Teams in every group face each other home and away, with the same pairs of sides meeting on Matchdays 1 & 5, or Matchdays 2 & 6, or Matchdays 3 & 4.
The top two teams from each group will continue their European campaigns into the new year with the Group winners progress to the round of 16.
Teams that finish in the runners-up spot go into the knockout round play-offs, where they will be joined by the teams finishing third in the Europa League groups.
