Omer Atzili scored twice as Maccabi Haifa defeated Juventus 2-0 on Tuesday night to record their first victory in the group stage of UEFA Champions League group in 20 years.

Following the two-nil loss to AC Milan in the league over the weekend, Juventus were hoping for a win in order to increase their chances of advancing to the next round of the competition.

Juventus were stunned by Maccabi Haifa in the 7th minute of the encounter when goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny struggled to deal with Omer Atzili’s header as the ball found its way into the net to put the Israeli club ahead.

Five minutes later, Haifa almost doubled their lead when Tjaronn Chery’s shot from a freekick beat Szczęsny, who stretched his body in an attempt to get his hands on the ball but the ball struck the bar and went out for a goal kick.

Just a few minutes before the half time whistle, Atzili found himself through with the goalkeeper and curled the ball into the top corner of the post to grab his brace of the night and doubled the hosts’ lead as the first half ended 2-0 in favour of Haifa.

Both sides failed in their attempts to score another goal in the he intensed encounter as the determined Haifa players held the two first half goals tight and went toe-to-toe with Juventus in the second half.

The hosts picked up the historic three points and their first win of the competition while the defeat condemned Juventus to their third loss in four matches in the competition.

The hope of Juventus progressing to the next round of the UEFA Champions League now hangs in balance – Juventus remains third in the Group H, trailing both PSG and Benfica who are currently on seven points each with one game in hand too.