Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi Tel Aviv eliminated from Europa League

Both teams went end-to-end throughout the first half, which was goalless at the break, but Atalanta finally broke through when Gianluca Scamacca put home a corner kick to take a 1-0 lead in the 72nd minute. Hapoel tried to find the equalizer but kept coming up short as the Reds were eliminated from continental play.

Hapoel head coach Eliyaniv Barda spoke about the loss.

“We are deeply disappointed. I feel that we were equal to Atalanta, and perhaps even better than them. We showed much better ability than we did in the first leg, and it simply hurts to be eliminated because of a single goal, especially when we made so little of the opportunities we created. We are constantly keeping our finger on the pulse when it comes to the transfer market, and we’ll know how to respond if necessary. As for Stav Turiel – he recovered from his injury faster than expected, and thankfully he was able to play today. Is he staying at Hapoel Tel Aviv? Yes.”

Captain Omri Altman shared the overall sense of disappointment, but chose to devote most of his comments to the Reds’ fans.

“We felt on the pitch that we were capable of doing it, and that we were equal to our opponents, if not better than them. At the highest levels of European football, matches are decided by the smallest details, and that’s a shame.

After a goalless first half that produced few chances by both sides, Lugano saw Mattia Zanotti sent off due to a second yellow card in the 58th minute, leaving the visitors with just 10 men. Maccabi took advantage of the situation as Renato Steffen tripped up Elad Madmon in the box, good for a penalty that Dor Peretz slotted home to give the yellow-and-blue a 1-0 lead.

However, Dereck Moncada cruised into the Maccabi half of the pitch, went by Noam Ben Harush, beat a few more players and then slammed the ball past Ofek Melika to draw even at 1-1 and take a 3-2 lead on aggregate in the 79th minute.

Kenny Miller’s squad tried to find the back of the Lugano goal to no avail as time ran out and Maccabi was sent packing.

“To say that I’m disappointed would be an understatement,” Miller began after the match. “We didn’t do enough tonight to win the game. We lost concentration at critical moments towards the end of the match, when everything was in our hands. In the final 15 minutes, we didn’t do enough to create chances or defend against their transition play.

“All we needed to do at the end was stop their transitions, finish our attacks and be a little more creative. If we had gone two goals ahead, it would have been a death blow for Lugano, but we didn’t take advantage of it. We gave them the chance to throw players forward and play on the counterattack.”

Over at Hapoel Beersheba, Ron Kozuk’s team will need some time to overcome the disappointment of not advancing to the Champions League after having been seconds away from featuring in the world’s premier club competition.

To soften the blow, the Southern Reds will be playing in the Europa League and will play eight games against top-level teams from across the continent in the league stage.

Beersheba will take on the likes of Italian giants Juventus, La Liga side Celta Vigo, along with Bournemouth from England’s Premier League, Besiktas, Dinamo Zagreb, OFI Crete, AZ Alkmaar and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise.

Due to the ongoing security situation in Israel, the club’s home matches are slated to be played in Bucharest, Romania, at the Stadionul Giulesti.