Red Star Belgrade and Maccabi Haifa are set to trade tackles at the Stadion Rajko Mitic in the return leg of their enthralling Champions League playoff tie.
Despite turning an early 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 halftime lead, Red Star fell to a 3-2 defeat in the topsy-turvy first-leg clash in Israel. With the arduous task of turning this tie on its head lying ahead, the 1991 Champions League winners are looking to return to the competition’s group stages for the first time in three years. However, recent European history gives Dejan Stankovic’s side every reason for enthusiasm, as they came from a 2-1 first-leg deficit to beat Kairat Almaty in last season’s second qualifying round. Furthermore, the perennial Serbian champions had won their opening seven competitive matches this season before faltering in Israel last week, averaging a staggering four goals per game. Equally impressive at the back, they kept six clean sheets in that spread of fixtures, including five at home.
As for Maccabi Haifa, first-leg success in Israel means they could be on the verge of securing their first Champions League group stage appearance since 2009/10. But they can ill-afford to get complacent, especially as their porous defence that’s conceded in nine of their last ten Champions League away matches now has to handle Red Star’s free-flowing attack. But you’d have to go back to 2011 and Maccabi’s aggregate defeat to Genk for their last European qualifiying elimination after winning the first leg of a two-legged tie. Delivering action from the get-go, Barak Bakhar’s men have opened the scoring in four of their six games so far this term. That run includes a stellar 4-0 victory away to Olympiacos in the previous qualifying round.
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