Maccabi Haifa fell to Benfica 2-0 in Portugal to get their UEFA Champions League campaign off to a rough start. After a goalless first half that saw the Greens go toe-to-toe with the Lisbon giants, Barak Bachar’s side allowed a pair of lighting quick goals early on in the second half to put Haifa into a hole that they couldn’t dig out of.

Over the course of a first half that saw few chances, Haifa midfielder Ali Mohamed had to be substituted off with an injury in the 32nd minute which handcuffed the Greens attack and limited their offensive abilities.

Bachar decided to bring on last season’s MVP Omer Atzily in place of Dean David to begin the second half but the move backfired when Rafa Silva put home a Grimaldo cross to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 50th. Just five minutes later Benfica doubled their advantage when the aforementioned Grimaldo sent a fabulous stunner into Josh Cohen’s goal to wrap up the win.

Haifa will now ready for an Israeli league game against Nes Ziona on Saturday before welcoming Lionel Messi and Paris Saint Germain who defeated Juventus 2-1 thanks to a brace by Kylian Mbappe next week to Sammy Ofer Stadium in Champions League Matchday 2 action.

“It’s never honorable to lose but we gave our maximum and we played at a very high pace,” Bachar said following the loss. “We started the second half well and we missed a great chance but then we gave you twice quick goals. Benfica is a better club than Maccabi Haifa and while we tried to narrow the gap between us we just couldn’t do more than what we did.”

“We’re very proud to be playing against the top teams in the world,” Dolev Haziza commented. It’s too bad because we didn’t give up a goal in the first half and in the second , Franztdy Pierrot had a great chance to score. I’m someone who energy likes to lose and we know that we can always do more but this is what it is.”