Following last week’s 2–1 victory, Maccabi departed today (Wednesday) for Serbia ahead of the return leg against Hamrun Spartans in the UEFA Europa League 3rd qualifying round.
All updates from Serbia can be found on the club’s official website and app, as well as on the social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Telegram.
Preparations for Maccabi continued this morning with a training session at Kiryat Shalom. Later, Zarko Lazetic and his players arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport, from where the champions’ flight to Belgrade was set to depart. Maccabi is already aware that the winner of the tie against Hamrun will face Dynamo Kyiv in the Playoff, while the losing side will drop to the Conference League Playoff stage and meet the loser of the tie between KuPS of Finland and RFS Riga of Latvia.
At this morning’s press conference, the coach, said: “We need to change our approach and the way we play. Neither the players nor I were satisfied with the manner of play. I was a player myself, so I know what it’s like to play on pitches like the one we played on last week, it is always easier for teams of lesser quality to play there, and there are undoubtedly differences between us and Hamrun. Especially in the first 15 minutes, we could see where the match was heading. We had three chances, and they had two; we had no control, and I didn’t like that. I hope we can correct this for tomorrow.”
Before training, the Swiss Ambassador, Simon Geissbühler, visited the club’s complex to wish success to Ali Camara. Geissbühler is an avid supporter of Camara’s previous club Young Boys as the two exchanged memories from the defender’s time in Switzerland.
