Tal Ben Haim helped Maccabi Tel Aviv defeat Hapoel Tel Aviv in the first Derby of the 2016/17 season, winning 2:0 at the Moshava Stadium. Ben Haim talked about returning from injury, the upcoming European clash against Croatian outfit Hajduk Split and his feelings about brining home a victory in the Derby:

“It’s always good to win a Derby especially for the fans. We played well this evening asp do the players fought very hard. Now us time to turn our attention to Hajduk Split on Sunday.”

Returning from injury:

“I’m starting to feel better match to match and I came back from an injury when I didn’t play or trained for a number of months. This was something that I handy experienced throughout my career but I’m happy to be getting my fitness back slowly but surely. I’m happy to get a chance to play.”

Playing in Europe:

“Maccabi Tel Aviv is a Club that always wants to play in Europe, be it the Champions League or Europa League and we want to advance to the group stages especially for the Club and the fans.”

Expectations:

“When the budget is high the expectations are also high. Last year we made it back to the Champions League group stages for the first time in 11 years and I hope that we will make it into the group stages of the Europa League this season as well.”