Maccabi Haifa has been waiting for this moment for 13 years - their first home match in the Champions League proper for decades.
The Israeli champions lost in the opening matchday 2-0 against Benfica, and Wednesday night’s opponent, Paris Saint Germain, were the perfect team for the occasion.
The French side were in Israel recently themselves, in the final of the Trophée des Champions - the French Super Cup - which has been played at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv for the past two years. They won both games.
Maccabi Haifa came into the game hoping to repeat the past. In 1998 they managed to beat PSG at home in the first round of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, 3-2, to round off an aggregate win with a 90th minute goal from Alon Mizrahi.
Maccabi Haifa fans were ready for their first home match in the Champions League group stage since 2013 (Shaul Greenfeld)
And PSG have struggled against other Israeli opposition in the past. In their five matches against teams from Israel, they have only won once. Three ended in draws.
Maccabi Haifa’s manager, Batak Bakhar, is known for not letting the big matches get the better of him. As Hapoel Be'er Sheva manager, he lead his club to victory against several big clubs - Celtic, Southampton and two remarkable wins against Inter.
There was enough there for Maccabi Haifa to dream.
In the first half it seemed the French side didn’t quite know what to do - whether to give it their all or not. They created some chances, but weren’t taking the match too seriously.
And that lack of effort had an impact - the home team scored a surprise first goal in the 24th minute. Tjaronn Chery shocked the French, converting a Dolev Haziza ball into the box.
PSG needed to do something, and they managed to equalise before half-time. Kylian Mbappé rushed into the box, his ball was deflected into the path of Lionel Messi who hit the ball into the back of the net.
Tjaronn Chery, gave a few minutes of hope for the local fans (Shaul Greenfeld)
After the break, the French side were too much for the Israelis, and the gap between the two was clear. Maccabi Haifa still performed to the best of their ability, and looked to create another chance, but this was just the beginning of PSG’s comeback.
Messi turned provider in the 69th minute, setting up Mbappé to put them into the lead. It was his 30th goal in the Champions League, equalising Edinson Cavani as the club’s top scorer in the tournament.
And just a couple of minutes from time, the game was over. Marco Veratti put a long ball through to Neymar, almost from his own half, who ran through to score the third.
PSG avoided an upset, winning 3-1 in Israel.
Paris Saint-Germain, Maccabi Haifa couldn’t do anything against their superstars (Shaul Greenfeld)
It wasn’t to be for Maccabi Haifa, but they’ll still feel something is possible in the competition.
Things have changed since their last outing in the Champions League 13 years ago - then they ended the group stage with zero points, the first ever team to do so.
When fellow Israelis, Maccabi Tel Aviv, played in their last tournament back in 2015/16, they managed to score a single goal in the group stage, but conceded 16.
Maccabi Haifa played well in this game, but couldn’t win in the end. They’ll hope that scoring their first goal of the campaign, and holding PSG so close for so long, could help inspire them in the future.
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