Successful start: Neta Lavi participated in a 5:1 rout in the first round

Neta Lavi successfully opened the 2026/27 season in the Japanese league, playing 79 minutes in Machida Zelvia's 5:1 away rout of FC Tokyo in the first round. The Israeli midfielder, who made the move from Gamba Osaka last August for 800,000 euros, was part of Machida's historic achievement in reaching the Asian Champions League final and hopes to impress in the league as well. His team fell behind in the fifth minute but turned the game around before halftime thanks to Mitchell Duke (27) and Takahiro Akimoto (45+2). Against 10 players, the score increased later with goals from Yuki Soma (51), Australian Tete Yengi (65), and Daichi Okamura (80).

• Dean David played 21 minutes as a substitute yesterday, Friday, participating in Yokohama F. Marinos' home collapse in the opening round in Japan. The Israeli striker came on with a 3:1 lead over Kashima Antlers, but his team eventually lost 4:3. Croatian-Slovakian Aleksandar Čavrić came on in the 85th minute, equalized with a penalty in the ninth minute of stoppage time, and completed a super-dramatic comeback in the 102nd minute.

• Joel Abu Hanna, who returned to German football after seven years, is waiting on the bench for Osnabrück in the opening round of the 2. Bundesliga. His team, which was promoted from the third league, is currently playing away at Heidenheim, which was relegated from the Bundesliga.