It wasn’t easy but at the end of 90 minutes Maccabi Tel Aviv completed the first round of Ligat Ha’Al matches with a victory while picking up three important points. Shota Arveladze didn’t hide his disappointment after his side gave up a two goal lead in the second half:

“After the first half I wanted to see us continue to work hard and pressing just like the Maccabi I know, but instead I saw the exact opposite. The second half made me sad, defensively, confidence, everything.

Battling:

“I’m the coach and I have to find a solution, do I sound or look like someone who will give up. I’ll never give up. I’m sure that we can look better, better than how we looked even in the first half.”

Offensive effort:

“We scored four goals, that’s good and I hope that will give our attack some confidence. We have some time now after just having a match three days ago. As angry as I am, I also understand that the players are tired. I’m happy with how winger Ben Chaim played, he was fantastic and it shows you how important he is for us.”

January transfers:

“We will do what we need to do.”