Maccabi Tel Aviv hosts Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of the Europa League 1/16 finals. The match will be played on Thursday, February 18th at Bloomfield Stadium (Tel-Aviv)
The champions of Israel are the flagships of national football. In the current championship, Maccabi Tel Aviv is in second place, lagging behind the team from Haifa. In the Europa League group stage, Maccabi could not stand the competition with Villarreal but managed to get ahead of Sivasspor and Qarabag. The club from Tel Aviv has not lost in official matches since the beginning of January 2020, and it is in a good competitive tone. In the winter, Maccabi signed up André Geraldes from Cyprus-based APOEL, thereby strengthening the position of the right-back. Such footballers as Tenenbaum, Tibi, Hernandez, Cohen, Pesic, Golasa, Biton, and Peretz are the leaders of modern Maccabi.
| 2 x £10 Free Bet | Review | |||
| 100$-500$ for No Lose Free Bets | Review | |||
| 100% up to £200 | Review | |||
| Not available | Review |
Shakhtar Donetsk showed a quite decent game in the Champions League group stage, where everything was overshadowed by only two defeats against Borussia Monchengladbach. In the Europa League, Shakhtar is one of the most experienced participants - in last year's draw, Luis Castro's charges made it to the semifinal stage. The problem for the Miners is the lack of playing tone, but it is already a usual thing for clubs from the CIS. In winter, Viktor Kovalenko left Shakhtar and moved to Atalanta. However, the club managed to keep the rest of the players. The fans may be glad that a whole generation of young talents has grown up behind the backs of experienced football players. Shakhtar has such promising footballers as Dodo, Tete, Marcos Antonio, Kornienko, Vitao, Trubin, Bondar, Solomon, and Maicon. These guys are already in demand from the leading European clubs.
The level of these teams is incomparable. But Maccabi can boast of good shape, game tone, and home stadium. The experience of the regulars and a significant advantage in team speed speaks in favor of Shakhtar. It is unlikely that the team from Tel Aviv could beat Real Madrid twice and not lose in matches with Inter. Therefore, the visitors are obvious favorites on paper, and they will probably manage to prove it on the pitch.
Prediction for the match: Shakhtar Donetsk to win
