Preview:

Maccabi arrived at Bloomfield stadium for the first time this season as the 2023/24 Conference League qualifying campaign begins with a home tie against Petrocub Hincesti of Moldova. Robbie Keane who guided Maccabi in his first match in charge to a 6-1 victory away to Be’ersheva – was given a chance to experience Bloomfield stadium for the first time.

With owner Mitch Goldhar watching from the stands, Keane, kept the same team that beat Be’ersheva at Turner stadium. Daniel Peretz kept his place in goal making his 101^st appearance for the club with an unchanged four-man defense Infront of him. Yvann Macon, who made his debut for Maccabi at Turner, was handed his home debut at right-back. Enric Saborit and Nir Bitton were the two central defenders in front of Peretz while Ofir Davidzada completed the back-four on the left. Joris van Overeem started as the anchorman of Keane’s midfield with Dor Peretz and Dan Biton completing the midfield trio. Yonatan Cohen and Eylon Almog supplied the width to Maccabi’s formation while Eran Zahavi spearheaded the attack wearing the captain’s armband.

On the substitutes bench, Keane, named Roi Mishpati, Roy Revivo, Dor Turgeman, Gabi Kanichowsky, Parfait Guiagon, Sheran Yeini, Eyal Golasa, Derrick Luckassen, Shahar Piven, Saied Abu Farchi, Ido Shahar and Djordje Jovanovic.

First Half

Maccabi began the match with pressure on the visitors right from the off as Robbie Keane’s charges attacked Petrocub who found it difficult to even cross the halfway line. In the opening five minutes Maccabi created no less than four chances, the best of which was an Eylon Almog snapshot from the edge of the area which crept wide.

In the 13th minute Maccabi were awarded for their efforts and Biton who scored the sixth and final goal at Turner last week, scored the opener. The diminutive midfielder was fouled near the corner of the Peteocub area before picking himself up and curling the resulting free kick which goalkeeper Cristian Avram could only palm into his own goal.

But despite the 20,091 fans who braved the hot and humid weather conditions to jump in delight, Biton’s goal seemed to have had the opposite effect. Maccabi didn’t capitalize on the lead while the visitors enjoyed several good moments which required Nir Bitton to make a double block.

Two minutes after the half hour mark Almog should have doubled the score after he was released by Yonatan Cohen. The winger skipped passed a defender inside the area but with only the keeper to beat somehow managed to miss the target. Within a minute, Eran Zahavi, got into the action only for Avram to pull a stunning save to deny the veteran marksman from opening his account.

A nice combination between Joris van Overeem, Biton and Cohen almost led to a Maccabi’s second in the 39the minute. Biton who found himself unmarked inside the area but sent his shot across the face of goal and wide. Maxim Cozocaru was the first player to be booked by the referee for a foul on van Overeem on the stroke of halftime. While seconds later Daniel Peretz was forced to make his first save equaling the shot Mihail Platica. Before the referee sent both teams to their respective dressing to recover during halftime, Almog saw yellow for a foul on Cojocaru.

Second Half

With no changes after the break Almog and Biton exchanged passes to carve Petrocub’s defense open on 59. But from a comfortable position Almog miscued his shot high over the crossbar. Two minutes later Biton tried catching Avram off guard with a shot from the halfway line which sailed wide. Maccabi continued to dominate with van Overeem, Dor Peretz and Biton snapping at the heels of Petrocub’s players. Right on the hour mark Almog came close once again as he was put through by Biton only for Avram to deny his effort and block the ball for a corner.

In the 62nd minute Maccabi doubled their lead as Zahavi showed once again how lethal he is. Three days after his 36^th birthday, Zahavi picked the ball on the edge of the area, dragged the ball passed one defender and rifled a left foot drive that went in off the post to make it 2-0 and score his 18th Maccabi goal in Europe.

Gabi Kanichowsky came on for Cohen on 65 as Keane made his first change while Dor Turgeman replaced Almog in the 71st minute.

The visitors almost exploited an uncharacteristic mistake by Daniel Peretz as his clearance fell to Platica while he was left stranded outside of the box. But the Petrocub midfielder who had an open goal at his mercy, missed the target from long range. Zahavi came close to double his tally on the night as he rose high to meet Ofir Davidzada’s cross but guided his header wide of the far post on 79.

In the 85^th minute Keane made a triple substitution as Davidzada, Van Overeem and Zahavi all came off and were replaced by Roy Revivo, Eyal Golasa and Djordje Jovanovic.

Inside injury time a spectacular team effort led to Maccabi’s third which was scored by Dor Peretz after a Jovanovic assist. The full time whistle sent the players and staff to celebrate the result as Maccabi now take a three-goal-lead for next week’s return leg in Kishinev.

 

 

Maccabi will shortly begin a new European season as they host Moldovan outfit Petrocub Hincest for the first leg of the Conference League 2nd qualifying round. Maccabi arrive at this tie with a rich history representing Israel in Europe for more than 3 decades, so we took the chance to dive into some of the stats.

This will be Maccabi’s 24th season in Europe and 11th in succession – more than any other Israeli side in terms of seasons in total and consecutive run.

Since was accepted into Europe in 1992, Maccabi played 167 matches in European competitions – more than any other Israeli club. Maccabi’s record to date is 69 matches won, 60 defeat while 38 matches were drawn with a goal tally of 222 scored and 199 conceded.

Over the years, 209 players represented Maccabi in Europe. Sheran Yeini’s is Maccabi’s all-time appearance record holder featuring in 82 matches in Yellow and Blue.

77 different Maccabi players scored goals for the club in the various European competitions.

Eran Zahavi is Maccabi’s leading goal-scorer in Europe getting his name on the score sheet 17 times.

This will be Maccabi’s third season starting a qualifying campaign in the Conference League. Maccabi featured 10 times in the Champions League qualifying campaign, 10 times in the Europa League qualifying campaign (5 under its’ previous name the UEFA Cup) and once in the Cup Winners Cup qualifying campaign.

Maccabi qualified twice to the Champions League group stages, 5 times to the Europa League group stages and in the 2021/22 season to the Conference League group phase. Overall Maccabi is the club which qualified to the European group stages 8 times – more than any other Israeli club.

Maccabi advanced passed the first European tie 18 times and were knocked out 5 times. Maccabi’s record in the opening European tie currently stands on 13 victories, 4 draws and 6 defeats.

Petrocub will be the 78th opponent Maccabi faces in European competitions and as this will be the first tie against a Moldovan side – the 39^th country.

Israeli clubs met Moldovan opponents 4 times in the past with the record currently stands on 2-2. Beitar Jerusalem (1994) and Hapoel Be’ersheva (2017) advanced while Hapoel Tel Aviv (1996) and Ironi Rishon Lezion (1997) were eliminated by Moldovan clubs.

Baruch Dego and Nosa Igiebor are the only Maccabi players to have scored hattricks in the opening match in Europe.   

     

How long have we waited for that moment. A new season is just at our doorstep. Alongside it, return, the excitement and hope to experience new happy moments with Maccabi – the moments we all live for. This season, more that any other season, we are all together – the players and coaching staff on the pitch and you fans in the stands. We all have the power and responsibility to ensure that the 2023/24 season will be remembered in our glorified history as a season we will all be proud of.

We recently noticed how the IFA Disciplinary Courts increased the severity of the punishments which leaves us with no room for mistakes that could harm us. A moment before it all begins, this is a great opportunity to remind ourselves that we all have the responsibility to ensure that nothing could prevent the team from achieving a very important target – bringing back the titles to Maccabi’s trophy cabinet.
What harms us?

Over the past few seasons, the club identified several issues concerning fans’ conduct that should they improve would significantly help the success of everyone.

Pyrotechnics and missile throwing – The energies which generate the atmosphere Bloomfield and the effect it has on the players we al know. Your support from the stands is vital for the Club’s success. On the other hand, no one would like to play in front of empty stands or to be dragged across the country on the way to radius matches. As you all know so well, lighting of pyrotechnics and throwing missiles of any kind onto the playing field is strictly forbidden and is causing the club massive damages. Let us all ensure that it will simply not happen.

Pitch invasions and entering the areas surrounding the field of play – Following the incidents of last season, Maccabi is facing a suspended sentence of 3-point-deduction in the event of a pitch invasion or entering the field of play. The Disciplinary court is very strict on that matter and any pitch invasion could prove extremely costly. Wither that be the ecstatic feeling after a goal is scored, or a random child entering the field of play out of excitement – such actions cost the club massive fees through fines and even the deduction of points which could ultimately decide the title race.

Racism – The Club has shown in the past how it adopted a zero-tolerance approach towards acts if racism – including life-ban punishments towards fans found guilty. Our job is to pay attention to ourselves and our surrounding area in the stand. Just before you begin chanting, thing carefully whether this is a racist song. If you have any doubts simply don’t sing it.

Touting – We recently came across many cases of touting both of tickets and season tickets. In some cases, culprits are offering tickets which were already used or even none-existent ones, aggravating those who purchased. Therefore, it is highly recommended you only by tickets from official and authorized sources. Fans caught touting – will have their tickets cancelled immediately and the club will consider taking further action such as cancelation of a season ticket etc.

Regrettably, last season we were forced to ban or fine dozens of fans found violating some of the things listed here above. In future we will not hesitate taking action against those found guilty of harming the club or the fans.

Finally, we would like to emphasize once again that each and every one of us, is responsible for his actions and has the power to help the success of Maccabi – so let us win together.

Saied Abu Farchi will continue at Maccabi Tel Aviv for the next three seasons after signing a contract until the end of the 2025/26 season.

After signing his new contract, Abu Farchi, who scored in Maccabi’s pre-season friendly victory over Premiership outfit Bournemouth in Marbella: “From the day I joined Maccabi Tel Aviv North at the age of 10, I dreamed of playing for the senior side. To train with the first team this summer and to wear the Yellow strip is to fulfil a boyhood dream. Signing this contract is the first step on the way there. I am grateful for the opportunity and pledge to do everything to make our amazing set of fans happy.”

Maccabi’s CEO, Ben Mansford, added: “We are delighted that Saied has committed his long-term future to Maccabi. It is another young talent who wants to remain Yellow. This contract is a reward for his hard work during his time with us. We look forward to seeing Saied continue his development at Maccabi.”

Abu Farchi, has an impressive record over the past two seasons scoring 35 goals in 73 matches for Maccabi’s U16’s and U17’s. At national level, Abu Farchi represented Israel’s Under 17’s and U16’s scoring 2 goals in 11 international appearances.

 

A new European season gets underway as the first hurdle Maccabi will face is Moldovan outfit FC Petrocub Hincesti that will travel to Israel for the first leg of the Conference League 2^nd qualifying round.

Shortly before hosting the Moldovan’s at Bloomfield stadium (Thursday, 20:30) we can dive in to try and learn what should we expect in the next two matches.

Petrocub were drawn to face Maccabi after ending last season’s Moldovan Super League in the runners up spot three points adrift of Champions Sheriff Tiraspol. Petrocub is a relatively young club which was founded in 1999 and played its’ first of 15 European matches to date in the 2018/19 season.

Since then, Petrocub represented Moldova in every season and reached its’ highest stage last season before being knocked out of the Conference League 3^rd qualifying round by Hungarian side Fehervar.

Petrocub’s home stadium at Hincesti has a capacity of 1200 fans only, as a result they host their European matches at Zimbru’s 10,500 capacity stadium in Kishinev.

The formation: mostly 3 central defenders

Petrocub is a team that has retained most of the playing and coaching staff.  

Ivan Tabanov, has been Petrocub’s manager since June 2022, as the 56-year-old mostly plays with five players across the back. His formation varies between 3 central defenders as 5-3-2 to 3-4-3 and sometimes even 5-4-1.

One of the Moldovan’s characteristics is their physicality and aggression whilst relying on a transition game aiming to reach the opponent’s danger zone as soon as possible.

The striker to face Maccabi

Petrocub’s squad consists mostly of local Moldovan players, 8 of whom are members of the national team side that beat Poland 3-2 in the EURO 2024 qualifying campaign.

Central defender, Victor Mudrac, Ioan-Calin Revenco the right-back and Maxim Cojocaru the winger were all starters in that match and played a significant role in one of the biggest victories of Moldova’s football history.

Maccabi will have to pay attention to Petrocub’s captain and their biggest star Vladimir Ambros as the 29-year-old striker scored 76 goals in almost 200 appearances for the club. Marius Iosipoi who scored last season 7 league goals from his position as a winger is another player who might pose a threat.