Maccabi Haifa advanced to the UEFA Champions League group stages for the third time in the club’s history as the Greens came back at Red Star Belgrade from a 2-0 deficit to draw 2-2 and punch their ticket to the most prestigious annual competition 5-4 on aggregate.

Barak Bachar’s squad fell behind at the Marakana Stadium on first half goals by Aleksandar Peseic and Mirko Ivanic by the 43rd minute as the situation looked bleak for the Greens. However, Haifa received a lifeline on the stroke of half-time when defender Daniel Sundgren’s long shot found its way behind keeper Milan Borjan to cut the advantage to 2-1.

Both sides had trouble creating chances over the course of the second half until an Omer Atzily free kick caromed off of Red Star substitute Milan Pavkov and behind Borjan in the 90th minute as Haifa moved into the Champions League for the first time in over a decade.

Bachar’s team began their Champions League qualifying journey with a stunning second round ousting of Greek powerhouse Olympiacos 5-1 on aggregate including a second leg 4-0 win in Athens. That tie was followed up by a 4-2 aggregate win over Apollon Limassol before downing Red Star last week 3-2 in Haifa in the first leg of the playoff round.

“This is the first time I gave no words,” Bachar began after the game. “Usually I can say how I feel but right now the emotions are overcoming me. The fans were great, the players were winners and we played in a tough place. But to be able to come back playing as professionals is really something. This is for the supporters and the entire State of Israel.”

“This is history,” Dolev Haziza said. “We played a number of tough teams to get here and I said before the game that Omer Atzily would come in and help score the winning goal. I’ve been working hard since the start of the season and we all wanted to get to the group stages. But I was super motivated and didn’t sleep at all the night before the game.”

Defender Daniel Sundgren also reflected on advancing to the group stages, “It’s a dream come true. I joined Maccabi Haifa because they won the league and would compete for a chance to be in the Champions League. Today we show that we belonged there. We played well in the second half and we deserved this.”

For the Greens this will be the third time in the Champions League group stages and the 6th time over-all that an Israeli club will feature since the country joined UEFA. Haifa was the first team to play in the group stages back in 2002/03 when they played against the likes of Manchester United, Olympiacos and Sturm Graz.

The second time occurred in 2009/10 as Elisha Levy’s squad faced Bayern Munich, Juventus and Bordeaux. The last time an Israeli team played in the Champions League was in 2015/16 when Maccabi Tel Aviv advanced to the competition.

Maccabi Haifa came out very tentative to start the game as the Red Star faithful set off flares and various varieties of pyrotechnics as the pitch was blanked in smoke leading to a solid chance from the hosts but Guelor Kanga hit the right post as the Greens were saved early on by the woodwork.

However, Barak Bachar’s luck would run out quickly when midfielder Aleksandar Katai raced down the left side by Daniel Sundgren as he put the ball into the box where Sean Goldberg failed to clear it giving Aleksandar Pesic the opportunity to stab the sphere home for a 1-0 Red Star advantage in the 27th minute.

The precarious situation went from bad to worse for Haifa when the coughed up the ball on the sidelines where it went to Katai who back healed it to Pesic and then onto Mirko Ivanic who made no mistake to put Red Star up 2-0 in the 44th minute.

Just before the sides headed into the break Haifa were awarded a penalty due to a Slavoljub Srnić handball in the box but Dolev Haziza’s weak spot kick was easily saved by keeper Milan Borjan. But seconds later Sundgren’s long distance attempt skipped by a confused Borjan and into the back of the goal to cut the lead to 2-1 and draw even on aggregate at 4-4 at halftime.

Play calmed down as the second half got underway as chances were few and far between as Pierre Cornud’s 65th minute chance was tipped off of the post and out to safety by Borjan in the 65th minute.

As the game looked to be heading into extra-time, Omer Atzily’s free kick was inadvertently redirected into Red Star’s goal and past a helpless Borjan by striker Milan Pavkov as Maccabi Haifa advanced to the group stages of the Champions League.