Robbie Keane (foto: uradna spletna stran kluba)
Two rounds before the end of the season, Maccabi Tel Aviv, led by Robbie Keane, secures the championship title, ending Maccabi Haifa's three-year reign.
In the summer of 2020, Barak Bakhar began building a powerful Maccabi Haifa. Under his leadership, the team ended the dominance of Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Be'er Sheva, winning three consecutive titles. Bahar also led Haifa to the Champions League group stage and impressed Red Star Belgrade, who appointed him as head coach last summer.
However, Bakhar's departure from Israel did not bode well for either Red Star or Haifa. After three consecutive seasons at the top, Haifa had to relinquish the throne to the country's most successful club, Maccabi Tel Aviv. The summer appointment of Robbie Keane as head coach proved to be a masterstroke. The Irish strategist and his team secured the club's 25th championship title with a convincing 3-0 victory over Hapoel Be'er Sheva, two rounds before the end of the playoffs.
The crucial moment in the match that secured Maccabi's place in the second round of Champions League qualifiers occurred in the first minute when Hapoel's defender Miguel Vítor received a direct red card. The match in Tel Aviv quickly became one-sided.
Robbie Keane achieved the title in his first season as a head coach. He came to Israel as a former assistant coach at Leeds United and has since led the team in 51 matches, recording 36 wins, nine draws, and six losses. Keane's contract runs until next summer, but after such success, he may attract significant interest from other clubs.
Keane also guided Maccabi Tel Aviv through the Conference League group stage (Gent, Zorya, Breidablik) with five wins and one loss, but they were eliminated in the round of 16 by the current finalist, Olympiakos. Maccabi won 4:1 in Bačka Topola but were thrashed 6:1 in Piraeus.