Maccabi Haifa vs Slovan Bratislava Preview

Israeli football club side Maccabi Haifa will look to move a step closer to Champions League group stage qualification when they welcome Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava to the Sammy Ofer Stadium for the second leg of their UCL group stage qualifier.

The hosts come into this second leg with a slender one-goal advantage secured courtesy of a Dia Saba winner in the first leg in Bratislava. That win was their fourth in their five UCL games this season (L1), with three of those, including the first leg of this tie, finishing 2-1 during regular time.

The Greens could have won by a wider margin in the first leg but for poor finishing. Despite their profligacy in the first leg, they will fancy their chances of doing enough to qualify for the next round given that they have recorded only two defeats across their last 12 home UCL matches (W8, D2).

Slovan Bratislava need a miracle to keep their quest for Champions League football alive. The visitors last played at this tournament stage in 2014/15 beating Sheriff Tiraspol after winning the first leg 2-1.

But the tables are turned now and the Slovakian champions have a huge task in Israel. All isn’t gloomy for them though, as failure to win this tie will mean a transfer to the Europa League play-off round.

Yet, Vladimír Weiss’ men will be desperate to win here and make it five straight UCL away wins. Also, they will be buoyed by the fact that they haven’t lost consecutive UCL matches in the same campaign since August 2009.