One of the most lucrative matches in Maccabi’s history in European competitions is set to played at Bloomfield stadium this evening (19:45). Maccabi are chasing a place in the final 16 of the competition as they host PSV Eindhoven for the return leg of Conference League Round of 32. The Dutch side arrived in Israel with a narrow 1-0 lead from last week’s first leg at the Philips Stadion. But with 30,000 fans creating an extra ordinary atmosphere at Bloomfield, Maccabi will try and reverse the score on the way to a historic appearance in the final 16 of a European competition.
As of the start of the 2021/22 season, European Football Governing Body, UEFA, cancelled the away goal rule in two legged ties. As a result, Maccabi requires a victory by a two-goal margin in order to qualify. A victory by a smaller margin in regular time, would see the match continue for 30 minutes of extra time and even sudden death penalties.
Following the first leg in Eindhoven and before the return leg against PSV, Maccabi recorded a 2-0 league victory over Hapoel Haifa last Sunday. Mladen Krstajic’s side are on a run of four successive league victories and are besides the defeat to PSV are unbeaten in the last nine matches in domestic competitions.
For their part, PSV also travelled to Israel on the back of a league win having beaten Heerenveen 3-1 at home to remain in second place, five adrift of league leaders Ajax. PSV’s coach Roger Schmidt will have a depleted squad at his disposal for the return leg at Bloomfield as Cody Gakpo who scored the only goal of the game against Maccabi last week, didn’t travel to Tel Aviv due to an injury. Midfielder Marco van Ginkel is also set to miss out due to illness, but on the other hand PSV welcomes back Ibrahim Sangare and central defender Olivier Boscagli after serving a one-match touchline ban. Eran Zahavi will capture most of the attention as the 34 year-old Israeli international returns to the renewed Bloomfield stadium for the first time since leaving Maccabi for China in 2016.
