Maccabi secured a European group phase last night following the 5-1 aggregate victory over FK Panevezys but for Nir Bitton it was an extremely emotional night. The 32-year-old defender who was introduced as a second half substitute at the Haladas stadium in Szombathely, Hungary, made his first return to action since suffering a knee injury in December last year. After the match, Bitton spoke of the 7.5 months he spent on the sidelines and thanked all the staff members who supported him on the way to recovery.

“I am delighted the coach gave me that opportunity as this was a small gift after seven and a half months of daily hard work. I am very happy and emotional” Bitton said.

He then thanked the entire medical staff that helped him on the way to recovery: “This entire recent period was coordinated with the coach and the medical staff to introduce me at the right moment. He (Lazetic) spoke with me yesterday and informed me that of the result would allow he would bring me on. I would really like to pay tributes to the medical staff at Maccabi Tel Aviv. By far the best medical staff in Israel without a shadow of a doubt. Starting with the doctor (Dr. Dror Lindner) who besides the fact that in my opinion is the best doctor in Israel, he is also a unique personality and a person who is really fun to work with, be with and treated by. All the physios who worked under him and with me throughout this challenging period also need more than a mention. Sagiv (Mizrahi) who in the first 3 months I saw him more than my wife and kids, and Ravid (Atias) who I later worked on the pitch with as well as Yossi Zigdon who supervises everyone. Yoni (Hernowitz), Amiram (Muyal), Snir (Kunik), Ofir (Mann) and please forgive me if I forgot anyone as I don’t have enough words of gratitude to thank them all. Besides being top professionals, they are all amazing people who are always approachable as they all supported me even when I had tough days and there were plenty. I would like to say thank you to all of them as I really appreciate them all. That is it now the season is starting.”

Ahead of next week’s fixture schedule that starts off with a Toto Cup Semi Final against Bnei Sakhnin and continues with the Europa League Playoff, Bitton added: “We have Backa Topola in the next round but first we have Bnei Sakhnin because when you are at a club like Maccabi Tel Aviv you want to win every possible title. As far as we are concerned we have the Toto Cup Final on Sunday which is a great chance to reach the final and challenge for another trophy.”

Bitton and the team will return to Israel after a 10-day spell which was spent abroad between the first leg in Lithuania and the return leg in Hungary as he reflected on the return home: “First I would like to return to my kids and my wife. We haven’t seen them for a long while and missed our families a lot. To return to Bloomfield after such a long period would be exciting and fun. Obviously we would like to play our European matches infront of our fans but sadly there are more important things in life and we must play and deal with what we have.

At the moment these seem like trivial issues as we try make everyone as happy and as proud as we possibly can so let’s just pray for these days to be over”.

The 23-year-old who scored against FK Panevezys on the way to a 3-0 victory and a 5-1 aggregate win over the Lithuanians at the Haladas stadium said: “I am delighted to score at the start of the season as it will give me plenty of confidence and hunger to do more in the future. I am happy we won and qualified to the next stage in Europe which is the most important thing” Davida said, “We haven’t achieved a thing yet and we nust do everything to be prepared for next week so we can qualify for the Europa League group stage.”

On playing in front of an empty stadium in Hungary and the prospect of playing at Bloomfield in the Semi Final of the Toto Cup, Davida added: “We walked onto the pitch and there was no noise which is the thing I missed most. I hope that on Sunday against Sakhnin it will be different as they would come to support us at Bloomfield. For me this will be the first time at Bloomfield this season and I hope they will come and create a good atmosphere.”

“We have a new coach and new players” Davida replied when asked to compare this season with last year, “I am happy with the squad we have as there are loads of good players with plenty of matches so everyone will get to play. I believe in this squad and think we can do an even better season than last year”

Preview

Maccabi arrived at the Halads stadium in Szombathely Hungary for the Europa League 3rd qualifying round return leg against FK Panevezys with a 2-1 lead from last week’s match in Vilnius. Knowing that a victory over the Lithuanian champions will see his side through to the Playoff stage where his former club TSC Backa Topola awaits, Maccabi’s Head Coach Zarko Lazetic had more than qualification to look forward to. Lazetic made one change from last week’s starting eleven as defender Tyrese Asante was put serving a one-match touchline ban. Idan Nachmias moved across the back to partner Raz Shlomo at the heart of defence while Sagiv Jehezkel dropped back to the right back role. Ofir Davidzada completed Lazetic’s back-four that lined up in front of goalkeeper Roi Mishpati. Maccabi’s engine room remained unchanged as Joris van Overeem occupied the anchorman role while Gabi Kanichowsky and Dor Peretz completed the midfield trio. After his substitute appearance in Vilnius, Osher Davida was named by Lazetic as Jehezkel’s replacement on the right wing with Hisham Layous on the opposite flank. Upfront, Lazetic continued with Dor Turgeman after the 20-year-old forward scored one of Maccabi’s goals against Panevezys.

On the bench Lazetic named goalkeeper Roi Melika, Avishay Cohen, Roy Revivo, Eran Zahavi, Dan Biton, Yonas Malede, Elad Madmon, Henry Addo, Issouf Sissokho, Matan Baltaxa, Ido Shahar and Nir Bitton.

First Half

Dor Turgeman threatened to draw first blood inside the second minute as the 20-year-old striker created himself the time and space on the edge Panevezys penalty area but his shot sailed high and wide. Both teams struggled to create a clear chance but in the 14th minute Maccabi came centimeters away from breaking the deadlock. Turgeman slipped the ball to Dor Peretz who timed his run into the box before sending a toe poke that flashed across the face of goal and narrowly missed the target. 

Maccabi continued pushing forward trying to carve an opening as Layous teed-up Kanichowsky on 31 but once again the midfielder’s shot lacked accuracy. Five minutes after the half hour mark Ofir Davidzada exchanged passes with Layous to break clear through but his attempt of a cut-back was blocked by a defender the danger was cleared. Two minutes later Peretz tried pulling the trigger from outside the box but the Maccabi skipper had his shot blocked by his Lithuanian counterpart Linas Klimavicius who consequently required medical treatment.

Inside injury time Davida found Turgeman in the box as the forward managed turn shield the ball in an attempt to pick Peretz’s run before the defense managed to clear for a corner. The resulting corner saw Maccabi take the lead as the ball fell to Peretz who nodded it home to increase the lead to 3-1 on aggregate.

Second Half

Four minutes after the restart Turgeman came close to double Maccabi’s lead as he was given a sight on goal in but sent his effort agonizingly wide. Four minutes later Maccabi got their goal in spectacular style as Davida broke in from the right exchanged passes with Peretz to cut through the visitors’ defense. The pacey winger beat another defender before drilling in his shot past the keeper to make it 4-1 on aggregate. Lazetic made a triple substitution in the 63rd minute as Issouf Sissokho was handed his Maccabi debut replacing van Overeem, Ido Shahar came on for Kanichowsky while Henry Addo replaced Layous.

In the 70th minute the tie was put to bed as Peretz’s cross was flicked by Turgeman but blocked by a Panevezys defender before Jehezkel pounced on the rebound to fire in Maccabi’s third goal.

Lazetic made a double change on 73 as Nir Bitton returned to the European scene having recovered from a long term knee injury while Eran Zahavi was given 15 minutes to make an impact coming on for Turgeman. Roi Mishpati was drawn into the action in the 76th minute as he was at full stretch to keep out Noel Mbo’s powerful header. With the tie clearly beyond Panevezys’ reach Maccabi tried increasing their lead as Davida who kept tormenting his opposite number struck the side netting once again in the 80th minute. Idan Nachmias, who stepped into the right-back position instead of Jehezkel, sent a header on target which was caught by the keeper on 82.

The 2024/25 campaign will be the 54^th season of UEFA’s secondary Cup competition and the 16^th season under the branding of ‘The Europa League’.

The Europa League was rebranded and updated ahead of the 2009/10 season to a format of 3 phases: 4 preliminary qualification rounds, a Group stage (which as of this season will include 8 matches for each team) followed by a knock-out phase.

Of the 16 seasons of the Europa League – Maccabi participated in 10 whilst qualifying to the Group Stages on 5 occasions. Maccabi advanced past the group stages on 2 occasions facing FC Basel (2013/14) and Shakhtar Donetsk (2020/21) in the Europa League Round of 32.

In both the qualifying matches and Europa League group stages Maccabi featured 75 times with a total record of 35 victories, 25 defeats and 15 draws.

As of this season Maccabi played 6 times in the Europa League 3^rd qualifying round phase before advancing on 5 attempts: Olympiacos (2010/11), FK Željezničar (2011/12) CS Pandurii (2016/17), Panionios FC (2017/18), FC Pyunik Yerevan (2018/19). Maccabi were also eliminated at this stage once by Lithuanian side FK Suduva (2019/20).

The defeat in the tie against Suduva was Maccabi’s only defeat in the four encounters with Lithuanian sides. In the old UEFA Cup Maccabi advanced past FBK Kaunas (1999/00) and Zalgiris Vilnius (2001/02). In the 2020/21 Champions league qualifying campaign Maccabi advanced past Suduva in the 2^nd qualifying round.

The record of Israeli sides against Lithuanian teams currently stands on 8 victories, 2 draws and 4 defeats with a total goal record of 26-11.

Gabi Kanichowsky has yet to open his account in terms of goals at the 2024/25 campaign but the 26-year-old midfielder is on a mission to help the side advance to the next stage of the Europa League.

The 2-1 victory in Lithuania last week is only a narrow lead as Kanichowsy highlights the fact the job is far from complete: “It is definitely not over yet” he said at the pre match press conference at the Haldas stadium in Szombathely, Hungary. We opened the first half of the first leg really well, took the game by storm” he says about Maccabi’s two-goal lead inside the opening minutes. “But in the second half we got a little tired which leaves us with a point to prove tomorrow. This match is extremely important for the rest of our journey as well.”

The fact Panevezys scored a consolation goal which placed Maccabi under pressure in the closing stages last week, still lives fresh in Kanichowsky’s memory as he said: “We were under pressure in the final twenty minutes which leads to me waiting for tomorrow’s match to kick off. We need to prove ourselves once again. There is plenty to show and prove that the 2-1 wasn’t enough. We had great start but then our form dipped which leaves us with tomorrow to make amends”

On the past week the team spent outside Israel preparing for the match in Hungary, Kanichowsky added: “It was difficult to leave all our families behind but we have a good opportunity tomorrow to secure a group stage berth and do something good for our country and in particular the Maccabi fans. Last aeason we had a very successful campaign. I think that this season we are disappointed we didn’t qualify for the Champions League but the target both the players and coaching staff have is reaching the Europa League. First and foremost we must complete tomorrow’s task.”

And – Watch the pictures from training: 

Maccabi host Lithuanian Champions FK Panevesyz at the Halads stadium in Szombathely, Hungary on Thursday (21:30) for the return leg of the EUROPA League 3rd qualifying round. Zarko Lazetic’s side that carry a 2-1 lead from last week’s first leg in Vilnius have stepped up preparations for the match at their Hungarian camp which is based at the town of Buk in the Vas county near the Austrian border.

Watch the pictures from this morning’s training session