It’s not every day that a UEFA Champions League game is played in the Middle East.
And, more so, it’s not an ordinary day for the old lady, Juventus, to land in Haifa.
The fourth matchday in Group H represented a crucial moment for Maccabi Haifa. The Israeli champions are in the midst of a challenging first season back after an 11-year absence from the group stage.
So far, they’ve lost every single one of their games, and arrived at the match without one of their key players - Dolez Haziza - who has scored one goal and six assists in the competition so far.
Maccabi are also having trouble keeping up with the busy schedule that a spot in the Champions League group stage provides. At the weekend, they lost in the league to newly promoted Bnei Reineh.
Surely this match had a foregone conclusion?
But Juventus also came into the match in the middle of a middling season. Their loss to AC Milan at the weekend, potentially changing their momentum, after their wins against Bologna and Haifa last week.
First half
The Israelis came out of the block fast, putting a lot of pressure on Juventus’s goal.
Coach Barak Bakhar switched up his formation, opting for a more attacking 3-5-2, and while defending reverting to a 5-4-1.
And instead of Haziza, Omer Atzily took the role on the right hand side, with Dean David playing as the dynamic striker alongside Frantzdy Pierrot.
Pierrot himself almost got on the scoreboard after four minutes but couldn't poach the ball in from a close range.
Three minutes later, however, Atzily notched in a heade. The Sammy Offer Stadium exploded with joy!
It’s something the Israelis have got used to, after they took the lead against PSG a few weeks ago.
And things didn’t stop there, they looked determined to play, and play well.
One of the best players on the pitch in the first half was Tjarron Chery, who collected each ball flying in his direction with ease.
And one of these balls gave them their second goal.
As half time approached, Chery tucked a ball through to Pierrot, who ran freely towards the goal. He passed to Atzily who, in two simple steps, lifted the ball into the top right hand corner of Szczesny’s goal.
It was 2-0 to Haifa at half time. Not quite what you expected?
Second half
Things were different after the interval - now it was Juventus’ turn to attack, with Maccabi forced to defend closer to their box.
But as the minutes passed by, Maccabi started to take control again.
Chery tried to test Szczesny from outside the box, while Dean David had a good chance to score, but failed to hit the target.
In the 65th minute, Bakhar decided to take Atzily off, and threw Senegalese centre-back, Abdoulaye Seck, on in his place to strengthen the defence.
The game continued to develop, and as Juventus posed more and more threats on Josh Cohen's goal, Maccabi kept its head straight, and remained confident and ready for each attack.
The final minutes were all Maccabi Haifa, and when referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz blew the final whistle, the celebrations could finally begin.
Olympiacos, Apollon Limassol and Crvena Zvezda have all sacked their coaches after losing to Maccabi Haifa, now it's time to see what Juventus will do with Max Allegri.
It was an abysmal display from the Série A side, against a much inferior side with a budget that is less than a third of theirs.
Maccabi’s last home victory in the Champions League group stage was 20 years ago, in 2002, when they beat Manchester United in an infamous 3-0 win. Tonight they wrote another heroic chapter that will go down as one of the greatest nights in the club's history.
Edited by Alex Smith
Photo by UEFA via Getty Images
