Summary: Maccabi Netanya - Maccabi Tel Aviv 5:1/Sport1
For the first time in history, two Israeli teams are together at such an advanced stage of a European enterprise.
This is of course a conference league, with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa qualifying for the round of 16, and tomorrow (Friday, 14:00, Sport1) they will participate together in a lottery that will announce their next opponents.
The green and yellows will of course not be able to meet, and while Maccabi Haifa is not ranked, Maccabi Tel Aviv is.
The first match in the round of 16 will be on March 7th and the second leg on the following Thursday, with the draw for the quarterfinals being held the next day, on March 15th.
Here are the possible opponents of the Yellows.
Who will stand between them and a ticket to the quarter-finals?/Berni Ardov
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Ajax
The Dutch luxury club experienced a down season and already found themselves below the red line in the Dutch league, but since a change was made to the lines there has been a recovery and they are already in fifth place in the league.
The team is coached by John Vant Sakhip and his assistant is Michael Valkanis, who started the season at Hapoel Tel Aviv and left during the war when the offer came from Holland.
Vulkanis does not have such good memories of Maccabi Tel Aviv, as in his penultimate game in Israel he was defeated 5:0 in the derby.
Among the leading names in the squad are the players of the Dutch national team Steven Berkhaus, Steven Berkwein and Kenneth Taylor who scored the dramatic promotion goal against Budo Glimt.
Next to them, of course, is Jordan Henderson, the former Liverpool midfielder who arrived in Amsterdam after only half a season in Saudi Arabia's Al Etipak.
The brakeman Bushko Shutalo was sent off today and will be absent from the first game in the round of 16.
If and when they are drawn against the Dutch, the Yellows will dream of repeating the victory from the 2004/5 season in the group stage of the Champions League starring Baruch Dego.
Dinamo Zagreb
The Croatian luxury team started the season in the Champions League qualifiers, and after being eliminated against AAK Athens in the third round, were relegated to the Europa League playoffs, where they beat Sparta Prague 1:3 in the first game, but were relegated to the Conference League with a humiliating 4:1 in the return leg.
In the playoff stage, they surprised Betis thanks to a surprising 0:1 in Spain and 1:1 at home, thus reminding people how dangerous they can be.
Its stars are Martin Baturina, who has already been crowned as Luka Modric's successor, and his Croatia teammate Bruno Petkovic.
Maccabi Tel Aviv already met Zagreb in the UEFA Cup in the 2001/02 season, when they won thanks to away goals with 3:3 in the summary of the games. In the second qualifying round of the Champions League in 2018/19, the Croatians crushed Hapoel Beer Sheva with 0:5 at home , and recorded 2:2 in the away match.
Barely passed Budo Glimt.
Ajax players/GettyImages
Strom Graz
A team well known to Israeli football - Hapoel Tel Aviv lost to them twice in the Champions League qualifiers in 2000/01, Maccabi Haifa knocked them out of the Champions League qualifiers in 2002/03, and since then the Austrians have not met an Israeli opponent.
They started the current European season in the third round of the Champions League qualifiers, after 7:2 in the summary of the games against PSV Eindhoven they were relegated to the Europa League, and after finishing in third place of Group D (which also included Atalanta, Sporting Lisbon and Rakov), they were relegated to the Conference League playoffs - where they overcame Sloven Bratislava without problems.
The star of the second-ranked team in the Austrian league is 21-year-old Alexander Pras, who has already made three appearances for the senior Austrian team.
Geneva Sorbet
Although the humble Swiss team has not won a domestic title since 2000/01, it has nevertheless returned to European football in recent years and has repeatedly proven that it is better not to underestimate it.
It started the current season in the Champions League qualifiers, knocking out Kang and surrendering to the Rangers 3:2 in the summary of the games in the third qualifying round.
After finishing third in a home game that also included Slavia Prague, Roma and Sherif Tirspol in the European League, she was relegated to the Conference League playoffs, where she beat Ludogorets 0:1 on aggregate.
Its big star Chris Bedia was sold last January to Union Berlin for two million euros, and in his absence the most dangerous player in the front is the Angolan Derek Kutse, who has provided six goals and four assists so far this season.
Sorbet has never met an Israeli opponent.
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