Maccabi Haifa topple Italian club Juventus 2-0
Maccabi Haifa FC's upset over renowned Italian side Juventus ended a 20-year drought since the Israeli side last notched a win in Europe's premier club football tournament.
MACCABI Haifa FC upset renowned Italian side Juventus 2-0 in a UEFA Champions League group stage match in the early hours of October 12 (Australian time), via a brace by Omer Atzili, in front of 30,000 delighted fans at Haifa’s Sammy Ofer Stadium.
That ended a 20-year drought since Maccabi Haifa last notched a win in Europe’s premier club football tournament.
Juventus had defeated Maccabi Haifa 3-1 in Italy the previous week, but this time the men in green dominated proceedings, jumping to a lighting-fast lead after just seven minutes.
Atzili outleaped defenders to meet a cross from Pierre Cornud, and although he ducked his head just before making contact, the ball struck his back and headed toward the goal.
Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny reached the ball, but it slid through his outstretched fingers into the goal mouth.
Haifa had several more chances in quick succession, with Tjaronn Chery hitting the bar minutes later, and Atzili later hooking a cross just wide of the goal.
Their second goal came three minutes before half-time, as Atzili looked set to curl a left-footed shot inside the far post, but instead clipped it in at the near post, fooling the Juventus keeper to score.
Maccabi’s dominance continued, with Juventus only managing their first strike on goal seconds before half-time. Haifa’s keeper Joshua Cohen saved Dusan Vlahovic’s header from going into the net, keeping the visitors scoreless.
Cohen made three further saves in the second half, to defend the lead and seal the historic win.
Atzili, who was named Man of the Match, said, “Sometimes when you go to bed and close your eyes you think of moments like this.”
Maccabi and Juventus are now tied with three competition points each, at the bottom of Group H, after four games.
French powerhouse Paris Saint Germaine (PSG), and Portuguese champions Benfica, top the group on eight points each.
Maccabi will next face PSG in France on October 25, and their last group stage match will see them host Benfica on November 2.
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