Both of Tel Aviv's leading clubs now know exactly who stands between them and a place in the group stage of European football this autumn, after a week of qualifying results across the continent settled two ties that will shape their August.
Maccabi Tel Aviv completed a comfortable passage past Sheriff Tiraspol, winning 6-0 on aggregate after a 5-0 rout in the first leg and a 1-0 second-leg win in Moldova sealed by a Roy Revivo free-kick. That result sends them into the Europa League's third qualifying round against CSKA Sofia, who needed penalties to see off Azerbaijan's Qarabağ after two goalless draws either side of extra time.
CSKA Sofia arrive as a club in transition. They finished fourth in Bulgaria's top flight last season but did lift the domestic cup, beating Lokomotiv Plovdiv on penalties, and are preparing to move into a new stadium in September. Their squad carries some recognisable names for a side of their size, among them Italian midfielder Stefano Sensi, Cypriot forward Ioannis Pittas and Ivorian defender Jean-Philippe Gbamin.
According to ONE, all is not calm behind the scenes in Sofia. Bulgarian journalist Theodore Borisov described an ongoing rift between head coach Hristo Yanev and the club's ultras, who have grown frustrated with his cautious, defensive approach, compounded by a recent change of sporting director.
Hapoel Tel Aviv, meanwhile, learned their third qualifying round opponent in the Conference League: GKS Katowice, the Polish club that stunned Slovakia's MSK Žilina 4-3 on aggregate in the previous round. Hapoel reached this stage themselves by eliminating Bulgaria's Ludogorets Razgrad.
The first leg is set for Thursday, August 6, with the return fixture in Katowice a week later on August 13 — the winner advancing to the play-off round, one step from the competition's league phase.
Katowice's story this season has real substance behind it. The club returned to Poland's Ekstraklasa last year after a 19-year absence, guided by coach Rafał Górak, who has taken the team up from the third division since taking charge in 2019. They finished fifth in their first season back, ten points behind champions Lech Poznań, with midfielder Bartosz Nowak — voted the league's best player after a campaign of 9 goals and 12 assists — the standout performer.
Polish journalist Kacper Janoczka told ONE that Katowice's home form and support could make life awkward for Hapoel: the club has not lost at home since November, and the atmosphere at their stadium, he said, gives players "tremendous spirit and energy."
For both Tel Aviv clubs, the assignments look winnable but far from straightforward — CSKA Sofia and Katowice are unfamiliar opponents with genuine momentum of their own, and neither Maccabi nor Hapoel can afford to treat the third qualifying round as a formality if they want European football to stretch into the autumn.
