Maccabi Tel Aviv suffered Europa League heartbreak on Thursday night as they were eliminated by Asteras on away goals.
Trailing 2-0 on the first leg, the Israel champions got off to the worst possible start as Dorin Goian put the visitors ahead in Cyprus.
Needing four goals to progress, Maccabi did not let their heads drop and they levelled the scores four minutes later through Barak Badash.
Maccabi needed to make a fast start in the second half and they did just that when Eran Zahavi converted from the spot on 54 minutes.
Rade Prica set up a grandstand finish after making the aggregate score 3-3 with 15 minutes remaining.
But Asteras held on meaning Israel will not have any representation in the group stages of European competitions for the first time in six years.
With new boss Pako Ayestaran looking on from the stands, Maccabi's sporting director Jordi Cryuff took charge of the team. He said: "It's has been a difficult week and I can only be proud of the players.
"For sure there are a lot of things we can improve on, but I’m proud of everyone who gave their all today, even though in the end we came up just short."
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