2020–21 Israeli Premier League

The 2020–21 season featured 14 clubs competing across a two-phase format.[1] In the regular season, each side played 26 matches — home and away against the other 13 teams.[1] After those fixtures were completed, the league split into two groups.[1]

The top six clubs advanced to a ten-match Championship Playoff, playing home and away against the other five playoff sides.[1] The remaining eight teams entered a relegation playoff in which they played each other once, with the bottom two demoted to the second-division Liga Leumit.[1] The initial schedule set the opening round for 29 August 2020 but noted that dates could change.[2] Walla lists Maccabi Haifa's first league fixture on 30 August, while the title-deciding final round was played on 30 May 2021.[6][4]

Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv set the pace during the regular season, finishing first and second respectively after 26 matches.[6] Haifa led with 59 points from 19 wins, two draws and five defeats; Tel Aviv was one point behind on 58.[6] M.S. Ashdod occupied third place on 43 points, Ironi Kiryat Shmona fourth on 38, Hapoel Be'er Sheva fifth on 37, and Maccabi Petah Tikva sixth — also on 37 — to complete the Championship Playoff field.[6]

The campaign included the return of supporters after a year without fans in stadiums.[5] As the regular season neared its conclusion in March, Maccabi Haifa coach Barak Bachar reflected on the change: "To play in front of 1,500 fans felt like 30,000 after getting so used to such a quiet atmosphere; it was great."[5]

The title race between Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv remained close throughout the Championship Playoff. A direct encounter between the clubs at Bloomfield Stadium ended 2–2, with all four goals scored in the first half.[7] Haifa fell 2–0 behind before Godsway Donyoh and Tjaron Chery brought the score level; the draw left Haifa four points clear with three matches remaining.[7]

In the penultimate round, Haifa failed to seal the title after drawing 1–1 at Ironi Kiryat Shmona.[8] Godsway Donyoh gave Haifa the lead in the 71st minute, only for 18-year-old Mike Amanga to equalize in injury time.[8] Maccabi Tel Aviv simultaneously kept its hopes alive with a 2–1 win over Ashdod SC. After those results, Haifa held a two-point advantage and the championship remained undecided entering the final fixtures.[8]

Maccabi Haifa clinched its 13th league title on 30 May 2021, defeating Hapoel Be'er Sheva 3–2 at Sammy Ofer Stadium.[3][4] Approximately 30,000 fans attended the match, and a draw would have been sufficient for Haifa to secure the championship.[4]

Omer Atzili opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 13th minute, and Nikita Rukavytsya doubled the advantage in the 34th minute.[4] It was Rukavytsya's 19th league goal of the season, confirming him as the competition's leading scorer.[3][4] Tjaron Chery converted a second penalty just before half-time to put Haifa three goals ahead.[3] Hapoel Be'er Sheva responded through Tomer Yosefi in the second half and Farley Rosa late in the match, but Haifa held on to win.[3][4]

In the parallel fixture, Ironi Kiryat Shmona drew 2–2 with Maccabi Tel Aviv, removing the remaining tension for Haifa before the final whistle.[9] Tel Aviv finished second, four points behind the champions on 75 points, while M.S. Ashdod secured third place by defeating Maccabi Petah Tikva 3–1.[3][10]

After 36 matches across the regular season and Championship Playoff, Maccabi Haifa finished first with 79 points from 24 wins, seven draws and five defeats.[10] Maccabi Tel Aviv was runner-up on 75 points, M.S. Ashdod third on 54, Hapoel Be'er Sheva fourth on 48, and Maccabi Petah Tikva and Ironi Kiryat Shmona fifth and sixth respectively, each with 46 points.[10]

The bottom two clubs in the relegation playoff were Hapoel Kfar Saba and Bnei Yehuda. Kfar Saba's relegation became official on 24 April 2021 following a 1–0 defeat to Maccabi Netanya.[11] After 30 matches, the club had recorded six wins and 19 defeats, conceded a league-high 42 goals and scored 21, jointly the fewest with Bnei Yehuda.[11]

Bnei Yehuda was relegated on 1 May 2021 after a 2–1 defeat to Maccabi Netanya in which it led before conceding the decisive goal two minutes from time.[12] Coach Yossi Abukasis argued that the club's fate had effectively been determined earlier, against Beitar Jerusalem, when Bnei Yehuda surrendered a 2–0 lead after the 90th minute and drew 2–2.[12] Both clubs entered the Liga Leumit for the following season.[11][12]

Maccabi Haifa's triumph was its first league championship since 2010–11 and earned the club entry into UEFA Champions League qualifying.[3] Runner-up Maccabi Tel Aviv and fourth-placed Hapoel Be'er Sheva secured places in the following season's UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying competition.[3][9] At the other end of the table, Hapoel Kfar Saba and Bnei Yehuda were relegated to the Liga Leumit.[11][12]

A Sport1 retrospective framed Maccabi Haifa's championship around five pivotal matches rather than the final alone.[13] It highlighted the round-8 victory over Beitar Jerusalem that ended two consecutive defeats and began an eight-match winning streak, as well as Josh Cohen's 98th-minute penalty save against Maccabi Petah Tikva.[13] It also identified the 4–0 win over Kiryat Shmona that returned Haifa to first place, the comeback draw against Maccabi Tel Aviv and the late-season victory over M.S. Ashdod as defining stages of the title run.[13]