ByDanny Caro, Danny Caro
Maccabi Tel Aviv tumbled out of the Champions League following a night of frustration against Slovenian champions Maribor who secured a spot in the play-off round.
Trailing 1-0 from the away leg, two goals from Agim Ibraimi either side of half-time left Maccabi with an uphill task and although they managed to score two goals, there was no way back in Larnaca.
Ibraimi opened the scoring on 36 minutes after Damjan Bohar's low shot was parried by Juan Pablo, but Maccabi rallied well and forged ahead with strikes from Tal Ben-Haim and Eden Ben Basat.
But moments after Ben Basat levelled things up on aggregate following more good work from Dror Mikha, Ibraimi hit the Israelis with a sucker punch from a sliderule pass from Dare Vršič's.
Needing two goals to progress in the last 35 minutes, Maccabi battled to the end and Maribor were indebted to the reflexes of Jasmin Handanovič to deny Maharan Radi and Ben Basat from close range.