This season will be the 23rd in league history during which Playoff matches are staged at the end of a regular season. Maccabi will play in the Top Playoff for the 21st time in succession, the highest number of appearances among league clubs. Maccabi featured in the bottom Playoffs only in the first two seasons (1987/88 and 1988/89) after they were introduced in Israel. Hapoel Be’ersheva has the second-longest current streak after Maccabi as this will be their 13th consecutive season in the Top Playoff.

Maccabi won the League Championship 8 times at the end of the Playoff.

Maccabi’s highest victory in Playoff history was a 7-0 thrashing of Beitar Jerusalem in the 2000/01 season. Avi Nimni (2), Rodrigo Goldberg (2), Dedi Ben-Dayan, Guy Tzarfati, and Baruch Dego were on target.

The largest attendance ever for a Playoff match: 33,000 fans was recorded at the Ramat Gan national stadium at the end of the 2012/13 season. Maccabi secured the league title four matches before the end of the season with a 2-0 victory over Ramat HaSharon that hosted Maccabi Tel Aviv at the Ramat Gan Stadium.

This is the 14th season under the current format (regular season followed a Playoff). Since the 12/13 season Maccabi played 130 Playoff matches winning 72, drawing 37 while 21 others ended in defeat with a total goal tally of 231-109.

Since the 12/13 season, Maccabi faced 16 different clubs in the Playoffs. Of the five opponents that reached the Playoff this season, Maccabi faced Be’ersheva and Maccabi Haifa in 12 Playoff seasons, Beitar in 6 seasons, Hapoel Tel Aviv in 4 seasons, and Hapoel Petah Tikva for the first time in the Top Playoff under the current format.

The most successful Playoff seasons for Maccabi were recorded in 2018/19, 2019/20, 2023/24, and 2024/25, with 23 points in each campaign (W-7, D-2, L-1). One unbeaten Playoff season was recorded in the 2015/16 campaign with 20 points (W-5, D-5).

No less than 119 players featured for Maccabi in 130 playoff matches since the 12/13 season. Dor Peretz holds the appearances record with 77 Playoff matches to his name.

A total of 51 players scored goals for Maccabi in the Playoffs. Eran Zahavi leads the goalscoring charts with 50 Playoff goals.

Over the past 13 seasons, Maccabi hosted the opening matches of the Playoff having finished the regular season in positions 1-3. The record in these matches currently stands on W-10, D-2, L-1 with a goal tally of 21-4.

Under the current league format, Maccabi faced Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Playoffs in the 2013, 2014, 2020, and 2022 seasons. The record of derbies played in 8 Playoffs matches currently stands on: Six victories, 1 draw and 1 defeat with a goal tally of 19-5.

The upcoming Tel Aviv derby will be the 170th encounter between the two sides in the league. The overall record currently stands on 63 victories, 59 draws, while Hapoel won 47 derbies.

Ido Shahar is experiencing the best season of his career as he scored 10 of his 14 goals this season in league matches. From his position in midfield, Shahar, is Maccabi’s joint top scorer together with Dor Peretz who scored one more goal in the league. While Peretz was on target in Wednesday’s State Cup Semi Final victory over Maccabi Haifa, Shahar missed a penalty which would have taken his tally this season to 15 in all competitions.

Ahead of Sunday’s Tel Aviv derby against Hapoel at Bloomfield, where local pride will take center stage, Shahar said: “A derby is a derby. Everyone knows the meaning of this game, for the players, the Club, and the fans. We are preparing as we do for every match. We’re coming to win, and we do have a good feeling after the recent victory in the Cup against Maccabi Haifa. We hope to continue the momentum we have created, come to win tomorrow and look as good as possible.”

Bloomfield stadium is expected to be full again to its’ capacity after the Home Front Command lifted all the restrictions following the ceasefire with Iran and Lebanon. Sahar, didn’t hide his excitement as he admitted: “We are happy the fans are back and that Bloomfield will be full, I am sure it will help us a lot and give us a real boost.”

Shahar who has an excellent success rate from penalties, spoke on the spot kick he missed against Haifa on Wednesday: “It was a bit frustrating to miss a penalty, but I know it’s part of the profession. I always say, if you don’t take them, you don’t miss. After the penalty I told myself that the most important thing is the next action. I managed to win the ball back, and most importantly, we won. Dor (Peretz) came over and said a few words which gave me a lift.”

Local pride will not be the only thing at stake as Hapoel are neck and neck with Maccabi in the table as only goal difference separates the two sides in the table: “I understand what the fans are feeling” Shahar said. “I don’t think the derby is more important than the Haifa match, Haifa was also a very important game. We’re level on points and everything is tight. Even after the run was broken, we as players take it in a positive way. It’s a privilege to be under this kind of pressure and in these situations. We want to take that pressure and turn it into positive energy, and make our fans as happy as possible.”

On Wednesday’s Cup victory which was the first victory Maccabi recorded over one of the ‘Big Guns’ over 90 minutes this season, Shahar said: “It’s a fact that we haven’t beaten the big teams. Maccabi is the biggest club in the country, we come to win every match. It has been a bit of a strange season, with a lot of changes in the squad and many new players. I can’t remember Maccabi having such a young squad in a long time, but we take that positively.” Despite his young age, Shahar, who emerged from Maccabi’s Youth Department, is one of the most experienced players in the squad. “To keep the club’s DNA as it was, and it’s still there. There’s also the war situation, which affects all teams. For us, the season isn’t over and there’s still a lot to play for. We’re not giving up on any title or any match. This upcoming game is very important for us.”

On the competition for places in midfield, Shahar, who will be making his 40th appearance in all competitions this season and a total of 113 in Yellow and Blue, added: “In the end, we’re used to it. There’s competition across the squad, every position has competition. We like that, and ultimately it pushes the team forward.”

On Maccabi’s targets this season, Shahar said: “Our goal is to win the league, the cup, basically to fight for every title. We did everything to enter the playoffs from first place, unfortunately it didn’t happen. But we haven’t given up, and the season isn’t over yet.”

Mishpati, whose last appearance was in the 5-0 Quarter Final victory over Maccabi Jaffa back in February, spoke of his relationship with Ronny Deila: “The coach spoke with me and gave me confidence. He felt he could rely on me, and he showed it by letting me start in such an important match. I’m glad I was able to repay him on the pitch.”

On his thoughts ahead of the Final against Hapoel Be’ersheva at the end of May, Mishpati said: “I always believe, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be sitting here. I really love these moments against the big teams, and it’s a shame the stadium wasn’t full.”

Mishpati, who watched his fellow keeper Ofek Melika from the bench, said of Maccabi’s recent defeat to Be’ersheva: “It was a key game for us. We didn’t manage to get a good result, but before the semifinal we talked about what’s left until the end of the season and about doing something special. That’s what we’ve been discussing in recent days, me, Dor, Ali, everyone with experience, and we managed to pass on to the younger players that this is the important game.”

In view of Sunday’s Tel Aviv derby, Mishpati said: “Of course, we’ve already started talking in the dressing room about the derby. For us, it’s the most important match and the main goal right now.”

Tyrese Asante’s second half earned helped Maccabi book their place in the State Cup final against Hapoel Be’ersheva. The 24-year-old Dutch defender who scored his second goal this season at Teddy, was relieved at bouncing back following the defeat to Hapoel Be’ersheva on Sunday. “We didn’t play the way we usually do or want to, so we knew we had to give more in this game, and we did. We showed what kind of team we can be, and you saw it today in both the performance and the result.”

Asante who celebrated with a swimming gesture as a response to a social media jab by Be’ersheva’s Kings Kangwa, admitted: “I know how these things work. It’s funny, I laughed about it. The best thing you can do is respond on the pitch. It’s funny, that’s all it is. I wasn’t offended, that’s how it goes. When someone does something good, they can talk, and I responded on the field.”

Ahead of Sunday’s derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv which will kickoff the Playoff, he said: “We want to win every game. The last derby didn’t go the way we wanted and we lost. We need to bounce back, we still have that anger in us. We’re upset we lost, and we’re the ones who can fix it. We know our abilities, and the fans need to be behind us in the match. We’re giving everything, and we’ll try to keep giving everything.