Sissokho didnt hide his disappointment with the draw as he said: “The feeling after the match isn’t pleasant. We gave everything on the pitch, but didn’t get the result we wanted. We’re disappointed, but there’s no time to be disappointed, we have to fight together and keep looking forward.”

On Maccabi’s recent run of four league matches without a victory, Sissokho said:
“These are very difficult moments for us. But we’re trying to work together and change this momentum. At this club, we know how important it is to win every match.”

On the return of the fans to support the team, Sissokho added:
“We’re happy the fans came today, it’s important. We tried to give everything on the pitch with good energy. I believe things will be good going forward.”

Preview:

Three days after the 5-0 victory over Hapoel Haifa in the Cup Maccabi returned to league action as they hosted Ironi Tiberias on MD16 at Bloomfield. Draws against Maccabi Netanya (1-1) in the last match, Hapoel Petah Tikva (2-2) and a defeat to Hapoel Be’ersheva (0-1) in previous matches – leaves Maccabi in need of a victory.

Head Coach Zarko Lazetic made three changes to his starting line-up against the side currently ranked 11th in the table. Ali Camara returned to the heart of defense in place of Tyrese Asante who is sidelined with a one-match touchline ban for yellow cards. Raz Shlomo partnered Camara as the two central defenders in front of goalkeeper Ofek Melika. Noam Ben Harush was named on the right side of defense with Roy Revivo completing the line of defense at left-back.

Issouf Sissokho in the anchorman role was joined in the engine room by Ido Shahar who scored one and set up another against Hapoel Haifa. Dor Peretz led the team out with the captain’s armband as the 30-year-old midfielder will aim to add to his tally 8 league goals and 10 in all competitions. After scoring his debut goal for Maccabi on Saturday, Helio Varela, was named on the left wing with Sagiv Jehezkel on the opposite right flank.

Saied Abu Farchi, led the line as the 19-year-old who just like Varela scored against Haifa in the Cup, will try and add to his season tally of 2 league goals and 5 in all competitions.

On the bench Lazetic named, goalkeeper Roi Mishpati, Heitor dos Santos, Kervin Andrade, Kristijan Belic, Elad Madmon, Ben Lederman, Itamar Noy, Itay Ben Hemo, and Osher Davida.

First Half

Aiming to try and score an early goal, Maccabi began the match with purpose and intention. Inside the opening two minutes Issouf Sissokho stopped a visitors’ counterattack with a foul that earned him a booking. Seven minutes later Maccabi got the early goal they wanted. Helio Varela burst down the left and sent a square ball into the center of the area towards Ido Shahar whose initial attempt was blocked by Tiberias’ defense before Sagiv Jehezkel edged it past the goal-line.

In the 17th minute Maccabi lost possession deep inside their own half as the ball fell to Daniel Joulani whose shot sailed wide of Ofek Melika’s post. Two minutes later, Roy Revivo’s square ball was half cleared by the Tiberias’ defense as the ball reached Jehezkel, but his shot narrowly missed the target.
In the 26^th minute Varela who tormented the Tiberias defense down the left, tried to shoot himself but goalkeeper Ido Sharon managed to save at the near post.

A minute before the half hour mark Maccabi came close to double their leas as another Varela cut back reached Shahar whose initial shot was blocked by Sambinha before Saied Abu Farchi headed the rebound against the crossbar.

In the 42nd minute Sharon pulled a reflex save to push away a Varela shot before Roy Revivo fired his shot wide. Two minutes later Ali Camara was also booked by referee Snir Levy for fouling Peter Michael inside the center circle.

The halftime whistle sent both teams as well as the 15,992 fans who arrived at Bloomfield to warm up ahead of the second period.

Second half:

With no changes at halftime Maccabi emerged for the second half with the same attitude as the first one. A minute after the restart Noam Ben Harush tried his luck with a long-range effort which sailed high and wide. In the 50th minute Sissokho unleashed a right foot thunderbolt which was making its way under the crossbar but forced a fingertip save by Sharon.

Two minutes later, Tiberias had their first attempt on goal, as Michael sent a header which was easily collected by Ofek Melika.

In the 62^nd minute Tiberias were back on level terms as Ron Unger’s pinpoint cross exposed Maccabi’s defense before Niv Gotlieb volleyed past Ofek Melika. Lazetic reacted with a double substitution as he introduced Kristijan Belic and Osher Davida for Shahar and Jehezkel.

Revivo fired a direct free kick in the 70^th minute which beat Sharon but struck the top of the crossbar.

Lazetic made another double substitution in the 78th minute as Itay Ben Hemo replaced Raz Shlomo while Elad Madmon came on for Sissokho. Kervin Andrade replaced Peretz on 85 as the Venezuelan midfielder was introduced for the closing stages to try help win the match.

Kervin Andrade replaced Peretz on 84 as the Venezuelan midfielder was introduced for the closing stages to try help win the match.

Inside injury time Madmon came close to score as he sent a powerful header towards the goal, but Sharon pulled another reflex save to deny the Maccabi forward what would have been the winning goal.

Maccabi’s Goal of the Year project has reached the finish line. After thousands of votes and with 10 candidates competing for the crown, you decided which was Maccabi’s Goal of the Year for 2025.

Watch the full countdown and find out: this is the 2025 Goal of the Year.

Have you watched it? Then you already know, Eran Zahavi’s bicycle kick against Maccabi Netanya was chosen as the 2025 Goal of the Year. Weslley Patati came second with his thunderbolt which led us to a victory away to Maccabi Haifa, on the penultimate match of the season. Patati also claimed third place, with a brilliant solo effort against Hapoel Be’ersheva, completing the three spots on the podium.

Who Will Win the Apple Watch?
On Thursday, January 1st 2026, at 17:00, voters who participated in the project will receive a text message with the prize question. The person who answers correctly and is the fastest will win the grand prize – an Apple Watch. Just make sure you are available!

Matchday 16 at Bloomfield on Tuesday will be the fourth league encounter between Maccabi and Ironi Tiberias. Last season, which was Tiberias’ debut season in the Israeli top-flight,  ended in two draws: 1-1 at Bloomfield and 2-2 in the corresponding fixture at Green Stadium in Nof Hagallil. When both teams met earlier this season Maccabi recorded an emphatic 4-1 victory at Green. Ido Shahar, Sagiv Yehezkel, Ion Nicolaescu, and Dor Peretz scored Maccabi’s goals on MD3 which was played on September 13th.

The match against Tiberias will be Maccabi’s final match of 2025, marking the 65th time since the state of Israel was founded that Maccabi ends the calendar year with a league match. Maccabi has ended 10 calendar years with a Toto Cup match and twice with a State Cup tie.

Maccabi faced 26 different opponents in the final fixture of the calendar year. Maccabi Netanya was the most frequent opponent facing Maccabi 9 times. This will be the first time Maccabi ends a calendar year against with a match against Ironi Tiberias.

Maccabi holds the record among the top-flight clubs with 13 victories in succession from the end of 2009 through to 2021 to end the sporting calendar year.

Maccabi’s all-time record in the final match of the calendar year: 41 victories, 17 draws, and 18 defeats. The last defeat came at the end of 2004, a 2-1 league defeat to Bnei Sakhnin.

The match against Tiberias will be Maccabi’s 55th official match in 2025.
The breakdown: 37 league matches, 4 European matches, 2 State Cup ties, 1 Toto Cup match, 1 Super Cup match.

Only six previous calendar years saw Maccabi play more official matches. The record currently stands on 63 matches in 2017.

Before the match against Tiberias, Maccabi’s record for 2025 currently stands on: 27 victories, 12 draws, and 15 defeats.

In 2025 Maccabi scored 104 goals and conceded 71.
Only six times in the club’s history has Maccabi scored more than 104 goals in a single calendar year, finding the back of the net 120 times in 2024.

Maccabi faced 25 different opponents this year.
The teams faced the most: Hapoel Haifa, Maccabi Netanya, Hapoel Be’ersheva – 5 times.
The most wins: 5 wins from 5 matches all against Hapoel Haifa.

Maccabi’s biggest victory in 2025 was recorded on MD34 of last season (May 12th, 2025) – a 6–1 victory away to Maccabi Netanya. Eran Zahavi (3), Dor Turgeman, Osher Davida, and Nemanja Stojić scored the goals in that match. Zahavi’s hat-trick was Maccabi’s only hat-trick by a player in 2025.

In 2025 no less than 39 players featured for Maccabi in official matches in all competitions.
Osher Davida made the most appearances playing in 52 matches.

Nineteen different players scored for Maccabi in 2025 with Dor Peretz leading the list of scorers with 19 goals to his name.

The 24-year-old midfielder successfully converted a second half penalty to score his 10^th goal in all competitions this season before adding another assist to take his tally to 3 this season. At the end of the match, Shahar faced the media and said: “”When you score an early goal, it opens up the game and gives confidence.”

The victory which ended a run of winless matches booked Maccabi’s place in the Round of 16, as Shahar admitted: “It’s been a long time since we had such a big win with a wide margin, and it was very important. Of course, we want and need to look like this in every match and do everything to make it happen. It’s not been an easy period for us, we needed this, and the way we played mattered too. I also want to say to all the fans who came here, we really appreciate them showing up in the winter weather and with no roof over the stands.”

On Helio Varela’s early goal that set the tone and made what seemed like a tough tie against a top-flight club much easier, Shahar added: “I think in many matches this season we started well but couldn’t manage to score. When you score an early goal, it opens up the game and gives you confidence.”

Shahar who maintained his 100% success rate from the penalty spot, said: “Elad (Madmon) wanted to take it, and so did I. He was also the one who drew the foul. The coach decided that I would take it, so I did. Elad Madmon is an excellent penalty taker, and I really like him.”

On Maccabi’s recent run of form, Shahar shared: “It hasn’t been an easy time, with all the talk around us. We, the players, the only thing we can and should do is play football and win matches — to please the fans. That’s our job. Everything beyond that is not up to us, and we don’t want to get into it.”

With regards to Maccabi’s busy schedule which will see the side return to league action at Bloomfield on Tuesday, Shahar added: “We’re used to this schedule, playing every 3–4 days. We’ll come fully prepared. We know Tiberias, they’re a tough team, they beat Be’ersheva in the last round. We’ll come to win at home. As for Europe, we want to be in these kinds of competitions every year, it’s every player’s dream. That’s why we win championships and trophies. In the last two years, we’re the only Israeli team still playing in Europe.”

“We had an excellent defensive performance today. Even during the rough patches, I’m sure everyone takes personal responsibility, for better or worse. Everyone does everything they can not to make mistakes. As a team, we’re very united and supportive of each other. I’m sure that will continue.”

Shahar also spoke about his close friend Osher Davida, who scored a brace: “I’m happy for Osher, he’s a very good friend of mine. I’m glad I got to assist him today. He’s had games this season where he played well but didn’t manage to score. I hope this brace opens the floodgates for him. I’m sure he’ll keep scoring, assisting, and being a major factor here.”

In conclusion, he spoke about the internal competition within the squad: “At Maccabi, there’s always competition for spots. I think it’s good for the team. As long as I’m on the pitch, I’ll do everything to help the team, the club, and the fans.”