Maccabi Tel Aviv held their final training session Wednesday night in preparation for their Europa League Playoff Round match against Altach on Thursday (21:30 Israel Time) at the Tivoli-Neu Stadium in Innsbruck, Austria. Prior to the session, Head Coach Jordi Cruyff and Avi Rikan addressed the media at the prematch press conference.
WATCH: The Final Training Session
Cruyff was asked about his expectations ahead of the match:
“This is my 6th season at Maccabi and I have experience as to where we are right now. We lost a number of players this past summer but we are building a new squad and we will try to play good football. We have been able to get to the group stages over the past few seasons and that is one of our goals. I expect that the match tomorrow will be tough, but a club that wants to play in the group stages must get by some difficult matches.”
Is Maccabi the favorite?
“I don’t think that we are favorites and I believe that the sides are equal. Altach was able to advance over Gent and should be proud of that as they are a quality side. We respect our opponent and we will have to battle to advance. We are hoping to take a step toward the groups stages tomorrow but Altach has shown that they have plenty to offer. We know what to expect and we are ready for a difficult opponent.”
Approach to the match:
“We respect everyone and we always try to play our football. It would be a mistake to play differently. We know that in Europe it’s important to get a good result in the first leg but our goal is to always win. That is the mentality of the club and that’s what’s expected of us. We will try to play our game, good football and control the ball. If that’s not possible we will be organized and most importantly we will come in with the mentality to win.”
Avi Rikan was asked if it will hurt the club that the Israeli Premier League, Ligat Ha’Al hasn’t begun: “I believe that both clubs are in good shape and if we are at the Europa League Playoff Round that means we’ve already played a number of matches. I think that it will be tough for both sides. We’ve already had a number of matches this season so I think that we are coming into this contest in good shape. I don’t think that we are at a disadvantage since our league hasn’t started.”
