Hapoel Tel Aviv Holds Atalanta to 0-0 Draw as Maccabi Falls to Lugano
Hapoel Tel Aviv walked off the pitch with no goals, but plenty of belief.
A 0-0 draw away to Atalanta in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League Playoff Round was not just a solid result – it was a statement. Against one of Italy’s slickest, most seasoned European sides, Hapoel held their nerve, held their shape and kept their continental dream very much alive.
Hapoel frustrate Atalanta in cagey first leg
Backed by around 1,500 travelling supporters, the Reds started with intent. They pressed high, snapped into challenges and tried to force errors from an Atalanta team that never quite settled.
Roie Alkukin whipped an early cross into the box, searching for a red shirt that never arrived. Omri Altman then bent in a corner that was promptly headed clear. Half-chances, nothing more, but they underlined Hapoel’s refusal to sit back and simply absorb.
Both sides spent much of the first half probing rather than punching. Atalanta moved the ball, Hapoel shuffled across, the spaces closed as quickly as they opened. Clear sights of goal were rare, and the game drifted into halftime goalless, exactly how the visitors would have drawn it up.
The pattern barely shifted after the break. Neither team wanted to be the one to blink first. Hapoel coach Elyaniv Barda tried to tilt the balance, rolling the dice with a double change as Xander Silva and Mor Buskila came on to inject some freshness and pace.
Still, the match remained tight, tense, almost suffocating at times.
Then came the late surge.
Deep into second-half stoppage time, Atalanta finally carved out the kind of chances that usually decide European ties. Ederson twice found room to shoot, twice thought he had broken Israeli resistance. Twice Assaf Tzur said no, producing crucial saves as the clock bled out and the tie stayed level.
The whistle went. Hapoel had their clean sheet. They also had a platform.
Barda satisfied but demanding more
Barda’s reaction matched the performance – proud, but far from complacent.
“We can congratulate the guys on a very good performance. We stuck to our principles and played our football against a great team, so the players deserve congratulations,” he said, before quickly looking ahead. “Having said that, it ended 0–0, and we have a second leg in which we’ll want to reproduce this performance. In the end, we stood firm and insisted on doing what we had worked on. There is still room for improvement, but the better chances were ours.”
On the opposite bench, Maurizio Sarri acknowledged the battle his side had been dragged into.
“I expected a difficult game. They were superior to us physically. We lack fluency in our play; every time we receive the ball, we think, and that slows us down,” he admitted. “Nevertheless, there are also positive aspects: in our last three games, we haven’t conceded a goal.”
So it all comes down to next Thursday in Miskolc, Hungary – Hapoel’s home-away-from-home. One match for a place in the Conference League’s league stage. One match to see if this disciplined resistance can turn into something more.
Maccabi Tel Aviv punished in Lugano
While Hapoel earned a result to build on, Maccabi Tel Aviv head into their second leg with work to do.
A 2-1 defeat away to Lugano leaves Kenny Miller’s side chasing the tie, undone by a costly error at one end and a rash challenge at the other. Kevin Behrens and Anto Grgic struck for the Swiss side, with Ido Shahar briefly dragging Maccabi level.
The opening goal was a self-inflicted wound. On the half-hour mark, a poor clearance from goalkeeper Ofek Meilika handed Lugano the initiative. The hosts pounced, worked the ball back into the danger area and Behrens rose to nod it home for 1-0 in the 30th minute.
Maccabi needed a response after the break, and they found it almost immediately.
Just two minutes into the second half, Roy Revivo produced a superb cross, curling the ball perfectly into Shahar’s path. The midfielder, celebrating his 25th birthday, met it cleanly and slotted in the equalizer in the 47th minute. Suddenly, Maccabi were back in the contest, their bench alive, their belief restored.
It didn’t last.
Tyrese Asante’s foul on Yanis Cimignani inside the area handed Lugano a penalty and Grgic stepped up, calm and clinical, to restore the hosts’ lead. His finish made it 2-1 and shifted the pressure squarely back onto Maccabi.
They pushed for another response. Shahar, Dor Peretz and Revivo all carved out openings, all went close, none could find the decisive touch. Lugano held firm and will travel to the return leg with a slender but significant one-goal advantage.
Miller sees hope in second-half fightback
Despite the defeat, Miller chose to lean on the positives from his team’s reaction after the break.
“It was a good game. I’m coming away with very positive feelings about our performance in the second half. I have no doubt that we can get the win next week,” he said. “The Lugano players were very aggressive in the first half. They pressed us and made it difficult for us to settle and find our rhythm. The second half was completely different. We created several promising attacks, found a much better rhythm and had a lot of possession.”
Shahar, birthday goal or not, felt the sting of the result.
“Honestly, I would have been much happier if we had won and received the perfect birthday present. I’m happy about the goal, but unfortunately we lost in the end,” he said. “Nevertheless, we fully believe that with the support of the fans next week in Batumi, we will get the job done.”
Batumi, like Miskolc, will serve as a temporary home, a borrowed stage for a decisive European night. Hapoel will try to finish the upset they’ve started against Atalanta. Maccabi must chase down Lugano.
Two ties, two very different first legs – and one pivotal week ahead for Tel Aviv’s European ambitions.
