A 1-0 defeat to Porto in Belgrade on MD8 of the Europa League phase closed the curtain on Maccabi’s European campaign. Gabi Kanichowsky said at the end of the match at the Partizan stadium: “I think we looked good. The fact Porto were running the clock inside injury time says everything. We didn’t manage to score and I think that sums up our campaign. We were good but at these levels you need the extra. We will use that as a learning experience.”
Maccabi ended the inaugural league phase in its new format in 29th place with 2 victories over Besiktas and RFS. But of the six other matches, besides the defeats Ajax and Bodo/Glimt all the defeats were by a single goal margin. “We spoke about it at lunchtime, if we would have beaten Braga or drawn there on MD1 everything would have been different. It is a sore feeling of a missed chance but if against sides like this one feels a miss we are probably in the right direction. One needs to understand what teams we are playing against, to avoid making mistakes and when you get chances put them away.”
On the busy schedule Maccabi was forced to endure which will no longer include European trips and leave the team focus on the league, Kanichowsky said: “I feel that it’s a miss not to be in the knockout phase. Up until now we had a crazy schedule. Now we have time to prepare before matches, to rest and regain energy. We could find the time to train, prepare for our opponents properly and come fresh to every match which is good for us but also an opportunity for our match to return to Bloomfield.”
