Remembering Batumi: Maccabi Tel Aviv won, but was eliminated from the Europa League
Maccabi Tel Aviv came close to a brilliant comeback in Bulgaria, but a 3:1 victory over CSKA Sofia was not enough to reach the Europa League playoff round. Following the 3:0 loss in Batumi, the Israeli club now moves to the Conference League playoffs, where they will face Swiss side Lugano.
Maccabi Tel Aviv was very close to pulling off a brilliant comeback tonight (Thursday) in Bulgaria, but the 3:1 victory over CSKA Sofia was not enough to qualify for the Europa League playoff round. The Israeli Cup holder paid the price for the painful 3:0 loss in the "home" game in Batumi, Georgia, last week, and dropped to the Conference League playoffs, where a double-header against Swiss side Lugano awaits for a ticket to the league stage.
Kenny Miller welcomed back Roy Revivo, who missed the first game due to his desire to move abroad, returned Tyrese Asante and Osher Davida to the starting 11, and deployed Ester Sokler as a striker for the first time. Thus, from the very first moment, there was only one team on the pitch. Maccabi Tel Aviv dominated, reached positions easily, and went into the break with a single-goal lead after Davida assisted Dor Peretz in the 12th minute.
The trend continued after the break, and in the 61st minute, Davida also assisted Sokler, who celebrated a debut goal. When it seemed that the third was on the way, a serious mistake by Issouf Sissokho led to a goal by Stefano Sensi (66th minute), and despite a big gift from goalkeeper Fedor Lapoukhov who provided an embarrassing own goal in the 69th minute, Maccabi Tel Aviv failed to force extra time against an opponent that was in complete panic, and left the Vasil Levski Stadium frustrated.
An excellent performance and three goals in an away game should have been enough to advance in Europe, but not this time. At least Miller has something to build on for the future, assuming all the stars continue and are not sold abroad by the end of the month.
Lineups
CSKA Sofia: Fedor Lapoukhov, Pastor, Facundo Rodriguez, Teodor Ivanov, Andrey Yordanov (Mohamed Brahimi, 73), Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Bruno Jordao (James Eto'o, 46), Stefano Sensi, Max Abong, Ioannis Pittas, Leandro Godoy (Joel Zwarts, 69).
Maccabi Tel Aviv: Ofek Melika, Tyrese Asante, Raz Shlomo, Mohamed Ali Camara (Noam Ben Harush, 54), Roy Revivo, Issouf Sissokho, Ido Shahar (Kervin Andrade, 84), Dor Peretz, Hélio Varela, Osher Davida (Elad Madmon, 79), Ester Sokler (Sayed Abu Farchi, 79).
