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FOOTBALL EUROPE: Beitar benefit from rivals' successes

/noticias.info/ by Ofer Ronen-Abels
from Tel-Aviv

Maccabi Haifa FC and Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC's successes in the UEFA Cup may end up giving Beitar Jerusalem FC a clear run to the title in Israel.

Top two
Both Maccabi and Hapoel - who finished first and second in the league respectively in 2005/06 - reached the UEFA Cup Round of 32 after success in the group stage. Hapoel face Rangers FC in their Round of 32 tie while Maccabi drew PFC CSKA Moskva. "We were not expecting an easy draw at this stage but this is the toughest one yet," admitted coach Roni Levy. However, the challenge for the Maccabi coach and his Hapoel counterpart Itzhak Shum in the coming months may yet be to resurrect their league campaigns. While they have a game in hand on most of their league rivals, Hapoel are currently fifth in the table while Maccabi are even further off the pace in seventh.

Maccabi underwhelm
Having claimed five of the last six titles, Levy's side have yet to re-discover the form in the league that brought UEFA Cup wins against AJ Auxerre and FK Partizan. To date they have won just four league games, all of them by one-goal margins, and have conceded as many goals as they have scored - 17. Adjusting to the departure of Idan Tal to Bolton Wanderers FC as well as Michael Zandberg and Arik Benado's moves to Beitar, they are finding themselves stretched. Hapoel, meanwhile, are also struggling to match the kind of form that helped them record a 4-2 triumph at Paris Saint-Germain FC in the UEFA Cup in Israel.

Beitar profit
Beitar are currently top of the table, albeit level on points with outsiders FC Ashdod, but should Maccabi and Hapoel continue to mix European success with underwhelming displays in Israel, they will be cheering last season's top two all the way in the UEFA Cup as they dream of a first title since 1997/98. notas_de_prensa_archivo