Maccabi Tel Aviv now know their possible route into the Europa League's league phase: the club has been drawn against Greek side OFI Crete in the competition's play-off round, ONE reported on Monday, though the pairing only comes into effect if the Israeli champions first see off CSKA Sofia.
The reigning Israeli State Cup holders — Maccabi lifted their 25th title, and first since 2021, by beating Hapoel Beer Sheva at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem in May — must clear the Bulgarian side in the third qualifying round before the OFI Crete tie becomes real.
That CSKA Sofia assignment comes first: the opening leg is set for August 6, hosted, as all of Maccabi's continental fixtures are this season, in Batumi, Georgia, because of the security situation at home. The return leg follows on August 13 at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia.
Should Maccabi get through, the play-off against OFI Crete would be played over August 20 (away in Greece) and August 27 (the home leg, again in Batumi). Victory there would send the club into the Europa League's league phase and secure a fourth straight winter of European football for the Yellow-and-Blue.
Maccabi arrive at this point off the back of a comfortable dispatch of Sheriff Tiraspol in the second qualifying round, winning 5-0 at home before closing out the tie with a 1-0 second leg, a 6-0 aggregate that carried them into the third round without much drama.
A defeat to CSKA Sofia would not end the European adventure outright — Maccabi would instead drop into the Conference League play-off round, contested on the same August 20 and 27 dates, against an opponent from a separate bracket to be confirmed once that stage of the draw is finalised.
OFI Crete, formally founded in 1925 and based in Heraklion, are one of Greek football's more storied provincial clubs and play their home matches at the 26,240-capacity Pankritio Stadium. They compete in the Super League Greece, the country's top flight.
For now the immediate task is domestic in scope but continental in stakes: beat CSKA Sofia over two legs, and the road to OFI Crete — and a shot at extending Maccabi's run of winter European nights to a fourth consecutive year — opens up in three weeks' time.
