A week full of firsts for PSV. Head Coach Roger Schmidt's team will make its debut in the intermediate round of the Conference League and play Maccabi Tel Aviv for the first time. At the Philips Stadium, PSV should lay the foundation for a successful European tour.
Zahavi
For Eran Zahavi, the match with Maccabi Tel Aviv will be a special reunion. The Israeli played for the club from his homeland from 2013 to 2016. The striker scored 99 goals in 120 league matches. He is the only player in Maccabi Tel Aviv's history to score more than 30 goals in the same season. You can read a preview of Zahavi here.
Suspended
Ibrahim Sangaré, Olivier Boscagli and Carlos Vinícius are suspended. Sangaré received a yellow card twice in PSV's last European game. Boscagli and Vinícius are missing because they received three yellow cards in the group stage of the Europa League earlier this season. Cody Gakpo is on alert.
Record
PSV will play its first game in the Conference League. The club is on the eve of its thirteenth and fourteenth European game this season. Should PSV advance to the next round at the expense of Maccabi Tel Aviv, the club will be able to play at least fifteen European matches in a season for the first time in history. The record now stands at fourteen duels, dating back to the 2004-2005 and 2010-2011 seasons.
History
It is the third time PSV has faced an Israeli opponent in an official game. In 2009, PSV eliminated Bnei Yehuda in the Europa League playoffs (photo below). PSV faced Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2011-2012 in the pool phase of that same European tournament.
