The end of the road: Maccabi Haifa was defeated 1:6 against Benfica and eliminated from Europe

Maccabi Haifa arrived last night (Wednesday, 2/11/2022) to the last round of the Champions League with a chance to finish the home team in third place and from there continue to the European League. Instead, she went down defeated after losing 1:6 to Benfica. 30,464 spectators at the Sami Ofer Stadium, of which 444 came from Portugal, came to the greens' farewell game from the top factory in the continent, but except for the reds from Lisbon who celebrated at the end of the game, the many thousands did not like the end result.

Staying in the game

Dean David missed the frame in a big way in the opening minutes after leaving a ball from Charon Sherry. From the other end, Orsens sent a cross to Gonzalo Ramos who kicked the crossbar from outside the box. Josh Cohen had to clear a stunning kick from Rafa Silva, but the goal was only a matter of time. The Portuguese finally found the net in the 20th minute: Silva lifted into the box, Nicolas Otamendi hit the center and Gonzalo Ramos hit the net.

The Eagles' advantage lasted only 6 minutes. Pierre Cornot raised towards the square and hit Alexander's hand in it. English referee Anthony Taylor first pointed to the corner flag, but the VAR referees called him to award a penalty to the greens and so he did. Charon Sherry stepped up to the task and was accurate against Odyssas and Lahodimus, 1:1 in Haifa. By halftime Alex Grimaldo kicked near Cohen's goal, 1:1 at the end of the first 45 minutes.

Absolute humiliation

For the second half, the greens did get on the grass, but they did not function and were severely punished for it. It started in the 59th minute, when Ba lifted from the right and found the head of Petar Musa who hit the net to give the visitors the lead back. Omer Atzili and Mavis Chibuta entered the game instead of Raz Meir and Dean David, after the goal, in order to get the equalizer, but they had trouble endangering the goal of Valhudimos. 10 minutes after the second goal, the third was scored: Grimaldo's free kick from 25 meters went over the green wall and landed in Cohen's net.

In the 73rd minute, the Greens conceded a particularly unnecessary goal. Shawn Goldberg lost the ball to David Ners. The Brazilian penetrated into the box and sent to Rafa Silva who bounced over Cohen into the net. Ners shows Goldberg how to dribble, Benfika defeats Maccabi Haifa. The champion continued to fall apart and conceded the fifth in the 88th minute. Ba found Henrique Araujo free in the area and it rolled in. In the 92nd minute, the last nail was driven in, when Joao Mario shot a flat ball from 25 meters that Cohen was unable to stop. 1:6 to Benfica at the end.

Drama at the top of the house

In the home match, Paris Saint-Germain beat Juventus 1:2 in Turin. Kylian Mbappe and Nuno Mendes scored for the French, Leonardo Bonucci temporarily equalized. In light of the great victory of Benfica, a fascinating equality was created between the Portuguese and the French in the number of points, in the internal conflict between them (twice 1:1) and the goal difference. In the end, Benfica finishes first at home as they scored more away goals in their group stage matches. The Eagles and the Parisians qualify for the round of XNUMX, with the Portuguese enjoying home advantage. Juventus is relegated to the Europa League and Maccabi Haifa is going home.

The time will come to conclude the long European journey of the Greens, but now they must concentrate only on the Premier League. In the next cycle (Sunday, 6/11/2022) they will be hosted by Beitar Jerusalem.