Maccabi Haifa will start next season in the Champions League qualifiers, but unlike last season, this time the Greens' path is expected to be more comfortable.
The dismissal of the Russian teams by FIFA has led to the Israeli champion starting her way in the second round of the qualifiers. The meaning is simple: a move of one round will ensure Haifa a European home stage.
That is, if last season, the relegation in the first round by the Kazakh Kyret, threw Maccabi Haifa directly into the Conference League, this time it will not happen and Haifa will fall to the European League qualifiers.
The relegation there will not lead to disaster either, since then the Greens are expecting a playoff stage of the Conference League.
On the other hand, if Barak Bachar and his players manage to get through two rounds of the Champions League qualifiers, they will guarantee themselves a prestigious home stage, whether it is in the best league in the world or in the home stage of the European League.
Haifa fans.
Will performances in Europe continue for another season ?, Photo: Alan Schieber
Also, the meaning is of course also economic.
Qualifying for the Champions League, which is currently a far-fetched scenario, is worth revenues of NIS 130-150 million (including the audience).
The home stage of the European League is worth a little less than half the amount, between 70 and 80 million shekels.
At the conference the amounts are much lower, but enough to balance the budget so that owner Yaakov Shachar does not bring money from home.
This season, for example, Haifa brought in about NIS 25 million from the European arena, an amount that cannot be underestimated.
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