Maccabi Haifa opened their 2026/27 Ligat Ha'al campaign with a 2-1 win over Hapoel Ramat Gan at Sammy Ofer Stadium on Saturday, but the storyline dominating the post-match conversation had little to do with the scoreline. It was about Yarin Levi, and whether the whistles that greeted him from a corner of the crowd are the start of a genuine problem.
Bruninho settled the contest almost single-handedly, curling a 20-metre effort into the corner to open the scoring and then converting early in the second half after Silva Kani squared the ball to him. Ramat Gan hit back through Maxim Palkushchenko in the 61st minute, but Haifa held on for the three points under Barak Bakhar, who begins a third stint in charge after signing a new contract over the summer.
Levi, 21, returned to Haifa this summer after two productive seasons on loan at Beitar Jerusalem, where he established himself as a key midfielder and was named the Ligat Ha'al's Discovery of the Season in 2024/25. The club has since committed to him long-term with a new, upgraded contract, seeing him as a player to build the squad around.
The reunion has not been entirely smooth. At his first open training session back in green, fans lifted Levi onto their shoulders but he did not join in a chant aimed at Beitar Jerusalem, a moment that went viral and drew calls from some Maccabi Haifa fan organisations for the club to move him on. Levi later posted on social media insisting he never intended to offend anyone, telling supporters he was "happy and excited to return to wearing the green shirt" and looking forward to seeing them at Sammy Ofer.
Appearing on ONE's "Sicha HaYom" programme after Saturday's win, former Haifa and Chelsea forward Ben Sahar addressed the whistles directly. "I actually heard that most fans were with him, clearly there's a small part that whistles, but Yarin Levi's best answer should come on the pitch," he said.
Sahar, who retired from playing in April after a career that also took in Portsmouth and Hapoel Tel Aviv, added that Levi looked to be building match fitness after his summer move. "Yarin Levi entered into fitness, you can see him finally arriving and not afraid, as he should be," he said on the programme.
He was equally pointed in his praise for Bruninho after the Brazilian's double. "Maccabi Haifa looks a bit better, especially Bruninho — without him the team would have looked different," Sahar said, crediting the forward with carrying much of the attacking threat in the opening round.
The defence drew a more critical assessment. "Defensively Maccabi Haifa still isn't good enough," Sahar said, suggesting a change in personnel could help matters. "I would go with Silva Kani, who would manage speed-wise" — a nod to pace as an antidote to the space Ramat Gan found in getting back into the game.
For now, the win keeps Bakhar's side top of the early table on goal difference alongside the other opening-day winners, and buys some breathing room in the Levi saga. Whether the whistles fade or grow louder will, as Sahar suggested, likely be decided less by statements and more by what Levi does with the ball at his feet in the weeks ahead.
