The morning after the 1:0 defeat to Astana on Matchday 4 of the Europa League Group Stages, Maccabi Tel Aviv had mixed feelings. On one hand there is disappointment that the result had eliminated the club from any chance of advancing out of their group. On the other hand there’s optimism amongst the players as to the quality of play that they displayed over the last few matches.
The Yellow & Blue left back, Ofir Davidzada wasn’t able to hide his disappointment:
“I think that for 90 minutes we played a level above them and we dominated the match as the statistics show. We just couldn’t find the finishing touch we have seen in other games but not against Astana. They had one chance and they scored, but that’s football. We are happy with how we played and we will take the good things away from the match.”
Looking ahead to Hapoel Raanana:
“We respect all of our opponents and they’ve had difficulties recently. But we are focusing on our game and the upcoming match with Hapoel Raanana is very important. If we play like we have then everything will be fine.”
Central defender Eitan Tibi also summed up the match against Astana:
“It’s disappointing. We played well but we lost. The stats were all in our favor and we controlled the pace of the game and we had plenty of chances, but at the end of the day we lost the match. I hope that if we continue to play like this there’s no question that the results will come soon.”
Being able to score goals and looking ahead:
“That’s part of the game and we have to learn from that. Unfortunately there’s no escaping the fact that we won’t advance to the next stage. I hope that we can keep the momentum up in league play.”
On Sunday Maccabi will face Hapoel Raanana on Matchday 10 of the Israel Premier League with the goal of extending their winning streak after a 5:2 victory over Hapoel Acre last Sunday. The club will have their final training session prior to the match on Saturday.
