Hapoel Tel Aviv stuns Atalanta to keep UEFA Conference League hopes alive

Hapoel Tel Aviv kept their UEFA Conference League tournament hopes alive with a hard-fought nil-nil draw against Italian powerhouse Atalanta in the first leg of their playoff round tie. The result leaves the Israeli club needing a strong performance in the second leg to secure a place in the Conference League group stage.

Despite facing a formidable opponent, Hapoel Tel Aviv displayed resilience and stuck to their game plan. Coach Elyaniv Barda praised his team's performance, stating, "We can congratulate the guys on a very good performance. We stuck to our principles and played our football against a great team, so the players deserve congratulations." He acknowledged that while the draw was positive, there is still room for improvement, and the team aims to reproduce this performance in the decisive second leg.

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We can congratulate the guys on a very good performance. We stuck to our principles and played our football against a great team, so the players deserve congratulations. Having said that, it ended 0–0, and we have a second leg in which we’ll want to reproduce this performance. In the end, we stood firm and insisted on doing what we had worked on. There is still room for improvement, but the better chances were ours.

Atalanta coach Maurizio Sarri acknowledged the difficulty of the match, noting, "I expected a difficult game. They were superior to us physically. We lack fluency in our play; every time we receive the ball, we think, and that slows us down." Despite the draw, Sarri pointed to positive aspects, highlighting that his team had not conceded a goal in their last three games.

In contrast, Maccabi Tel Aviv faced a tougher outing, falling 2-1 to Swiss side Lugano. Goals from Kevin Behrens and Anto Grgic secured the win for Lugano, with Ido Shahar scoring Maccabi's lone goal. The second leg for Maccabi will be played in Batumi, Georgia, their current home-away-from-home venue, as they now face an uphill battle to remain in contention for the tournament.

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I expected a difficult game. They were superior to us physically. We lack fluency in our play; every time we receive the ball, we think, and that slows us down. Nevertheless, there are also positive aspects: in our last three games, we haven’t conceded a goal.