150 European matches
Maccabi reached an impressive landmark as the match against Spartak Trnava will mark the 150th appearance in European competition – more than any other Israeli club.
Our record so far shows: 60 victories, 56 defeats and 33 draws with a total goal tally of 195-188.
Spartak Trnava will be the 70th opponent Maccabi faces in Europe and the second Slovakian side.
Zilina met Maccabi in the 2003/04 for a Champions League qualifier. Zilina won the first leg 1-0 in Slovakia before advancing to the next round following a 1-1 draw at the return leg which was relocated to Cyprus due to the security situation.
Besides Maccabi, two more Israeli clubs competed against Slovakian opponents. Kiryat Shmona met Zilina in the 2012/13 Champions League 2nd qualifying round and Bnei Yehuda faced Trencin in the 2017/18 Europa League 2nd qualifying round with both Israeli teams advancing through.
Our 3rd Qualifying round record?
Ahead of the 2009/10 season UEFA launched the EUROPA League to replace the UEFA Cup as several changes were introduced to the Champions League format. Both competitions saw the introduction of three qualifying rounds with a Playoff also played as two-legged tie before the Group phase.
Since the 2009/10 season, Maccabi made 10 appearances in the 3rd qualifying round. Four times Maccabi played at that stage in the Champions League, advancing twice and being knocked out twice. In six attempts to qualify from the EUROPA League 3rd qualifying round, Maccabi were successful and reached the Playoffs on 5 occasions and were knocked out once.
A favorable date
Maccabi’s first leg against Spartak Trnava will take place on August 5th , a date that has entered Maccabi’s history books with two important previous qualifiers.
A Roberto Colautti winner in 2010 at Bloomfield led Maccabi to a 1-0 victory over Olympiacos to book a place in the EUROPA League Playoff thanks to the away goal rule as the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate.
Eran Zahavi scored a brace in 2015 away to Victoria Plzen to book Maccabi’s place in the Champions League Playoff after the first leg at Bloomfield ended with a 2-1 defeat.
As opposed to the match in Trnava, both matches decided the ties as the return leg.
