Maccabi Tel Aviv Falls Short Despite Win, Beitar Jerusalem Eliminated on Penalties in Europe

Following the advancement of Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Hapoel Tel Aviv in European competitions, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem aimed to join them but ultimately failed to progress. Maccabi Tel Aviv, coached by Kenny Miller, nearly overturned a 3-0 first-leg deficit against CSKA Sofia with a 3-1 away win in Bulgaria on Thursday, but the aggregate score was insufficient for qualification. After two consecutive seasons reaching the Europa League group stage, Maccabi will now compete in the Conference League playoffs against Lugano.

Maccabi pressured CSKA Sofia early, with a disallowed penalty in the 7th minute due to a VAR-detected dive. They opened the scoring in the 12th minute through Dor Peretz and extended their lead with assists from Osher Davida, including a goal by Astr Sukler in the 61st minute. Despite a late own goal by CSKA's goalkeeper Fedor Lapukhov, Maccabi could not complete the comeback.

Beitar Jerusalem traveled to Austria Vienna trailing 2-1 and hoped for a comeback amid local Antifa protests. They took a 2-0 lead in the second half with goals from Omer Atzili and Juninho Calu, but a costly turnover led to a goal by Kelvin Boateng, leveling the aggregate. After a goalless extra time, the match was decided by penalties, where Beitar lost 4-2. Key moments included Atzili’s powerful goal, a disallowed goal by Yarden Shua for offside, and missed penalty attempts by Eugene Ansah and Timothy Mozi. Austria Vienna’s Sanela Salic scored the decisive penalty to end Beitar’s European campaign in the Conference League third qualifying round.