The morning after the impressive Conference League 1-0 victory over Nice at Bloomfield, Maccabi Tel Aviv is already preparing for their next task. On Sunday, Maccabi hosts newly promoted side Maccabi Bnei Reineh at Bloomfield (20:15) for a match which will kick-off the 2022/23 league season. Today (Friday) Maccabi held a special press conference ahead of the new season which was attended by the owner Mitch Goldhar, Head of the Football Department, Barak Itzahki and coach Vladimir Ivic.

On the summer transfer window, Itzhaki said: “Up until now I think that we have some good moves, we began working earlier than we did in previous seasons and I am delighted with the signings we have made. I think we took a good path, especially with the return of several senior Israeli players to Maccabi Tel Aviv. They are very good players who could help us a lot but also players with a lot of character. This is something significant that we witnessed in our recent matches especially yesterday when we played against a team with so much quality. We showed character and determination but also quality that helped us deal with complex situations. Up until now I am happy, but haven’t completed the building of the team just yet as will be more changes”.

On the race for the league title Itzhaki added: “I am not looking at other clubs, but we must focus on ourselves, on what we do and if we continue in this way, with a few minor tweaks this season will be much better than the previous two years”.

With regards to the three senior strikers Maccabi has in Eran Zahavi, Stipe Perica and Djordje Jovanovic, Itzhaki said: “I agree that this is not a normal situation that you have three strikers of such caliber but every coach is happy to have so much quality at his disposal, especially in attack. I am happy they are bringing results and hope they continue to score more goals in the future”.

On the current situation regarding the foreign players registered at the club: “It is true that the domestic rule allows us to register only 6 foreign players, so in the event we sign another foreigner we will have to release one from our squad, but for the moment we are focusing on Sunday’s match. I don’t want took too far ahead, and if there will be changes I am sure you will be updated. Bringing players to Israel is not a simple matter. we are aiming at good quality players and sometimes there are issues that develop along the way. This season we negotiated with several players, but sadly it didn’t work out. The most important matter for us was to first sign the best Israeli players and continue completing the jigsaw at a later stage – if and when we chose to do so”.

Preview

Maccabi arrived at Bloomfield stadium ahead of the Conference League Play-Off against OGC Nice knowing that only a good result in the first leg at home could leave them with a chance of reaching the Group stages. Backed by an almost packed to full capacity Bloomfield stadium including club owner Mitch Goldhar in attendance, Maccabi’s fans showed their presence.

Inspired by the support Aris Thessaloniki gave their team in Greece last week, Maccabi fans intended to have their support heard as well as seen. Coach Vladimir Ivic made two changes from the starting line-up that managed to advance past Aris, one of them forced as midfielder Dan Glazer sat out his one-match suspension.

Ivic’s defence remained unchanged for the second match in succession with Sheran Yeini, Nir Bitton, and Enric Saborit lining-up as the three central defenders right in front of goalkeeper Daniel Peretz. Andre Geraldes on the right and Matan Hozez on the left continued to supply the width in Ivic’s side. Joris van Overeem, Eyal Golasa and Gabi Kanichowsky were named as Maccabi’s midfield trio in the engine room aiming to battle with their French counterparts. Eran Zahavi, who scored a goal in each one of the two matches he came on as a substitute was handed his first start replacing Brandley Kuwas who dropped to the bench. Alongside Zahavi, Ivic named Djordje Jovanovic as the young Serbian striker would try and strike an attacking partnership with the veteran Israeli marksman.

On the bench and alongside goalkeeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Ivic named Idan Nachmias, Stipe Perica, Dan Biton, Brandley Kuwas, Parfait Guiagon, Avi Rikan, Ofir Davidzada, Maor Kandil, Shahar Piven, Dor Turgeman and Oscar Gloukh all waiting for a chance to make an impact.

First Half

Maccabi began the match with purpose and intention against a star-studded Nice side packed with top international players. From Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, defenders Dante and Jenclair Todibo to midfielders Aaron Ramsey and Kephren Thuram. Maccabi tried moving the ball against the French side that finished last season in fifth place, aiming for Eran Zahavi and Djordje Jovanovic.

But the longer the match continued Nice began showing their quality and stamping their authority on the game. Gabi Kanichowsky, Joris van Overeem and Eyal Golasa grafted in midfield with Matan Hozez and Andre Geraldes trying to close Nice’s wide men who kept charging forward through the channels. In the 20th minute, Daniel Peretz was drawn into action as he was forced to a fingertip save denying Thuram’s close range header following a Ramsey corner.

Less than a minute later, Peretz was beaten by a low powerful Andy Delorte drive which struck the base of the post only for Rares Ilie to rifle the rebound high into the stand. A minute short of the half hour mark Nice carved Maccabi’s defence open with a perfect pass before releasing Ramsey. With only Peretz to beat, the Welsh International tried picking his spot only to be denied by Maccabi’s keeper who turned the ball out for a corner.

In the 35th minute Jovanovic had the ball in the back of Shmeichel’s net but the goal was ruled out for offside. Within two minutes Maccabi had the fans on their feet as Sheran Yeini had an effort blocked inside the area, before a Golasa cross from the left which flashed wide of Shmeichel’s post after Joris van Overeem couldn’t connect.

With no goals before the break, Dutch referee Allard Lindhout sent both team to regroup during halftime.

Second Half

Ivic made his first change after the break as Ofir Davidzada replaced Matan Hozez at the restart. Davidzada tried attacking down the left a couple of occasions but he was let down by his final delivery. Nir Bitton who showed composure at the back spreading the ball around, had a rare shot on goal in the 54th minute, but the tall central defender couldn’t keep his shot down. Ramsey sent a header wide of the post on 56 as Nice continued to look dangerous.

Maccabi enjoyed some good moments as Nice coach Lucien Favre made a double substitution in the 65^th minute, introducing Amine Gouri and Billal Brahimi for Ilie and Calvin Stegs. A Bitton foul on Gouiri on 67 allowed Delorte a direct free kick which he blasted on goal, but Peretz took the sting out of the shot and caught eventually. Ivic responded with a double change of his own as Van Overeem and Eran Zahavi bowed out and were replaced by Parfait Guiagon and Stipe Perica in the 68^th minute.

Guiagon livened things up a little as he added a bit of oomph into the midfield with Jovanovic trying to curl a left foot shot on 72 but Shmeichel collected with ease. Two minutes later however Bloomfield erupted and the whole stadium was rocking as a Sheran Yeini long ball out of defence saw Jovanivic flick a header into the path of Perica who lifted it over Shmeichel to break the deadlock.

Boosted by the lead, Maccabi continued to push forward as Melvin Bard hooked a ball off his line to deny Maccabi a second on 75. Perica managed to peel off three defenders and break forward before the ball reached Jovanovic whose snap shot was directed straight at Shmeichel. The Serbian striker who ran out of steam came off to a standing ovation and was replaced by Brandley Kuwas for the final five minutes. Nice tried desperately to level the score but Maccabi defended bravely and protected Peretz’s goal.

Inside injury time Geraldes received his standing ovation as he was replaced by Maor Kandil for the final two minutes. Allard Lindhout’s full-time whistle saw then 27,000 fans celebrate the precious victory despite the fact that job is only half complete.

Daniel Peretz who kept a clean sheet against Nice at Bloomfield to ensure Maccabi takes a lead to the return leg in France next week. “It is a great but we didn’t qualify as this is only halftime” Peretz said. “I played a good game, the entire team has, we gave everything on the pitch and really hope to continue doing so on Sunday (against Maccabi Bnei Reineh in the league) and on Thursday (against Nice)”.

On the experience of playing on a special European night, Maccabi’s young keeper, added: “This is not just another game of football, but we are not scared of any team. We respect every opponent and I love these type of games as it pushes you to the edge against top international players”.

Stipe Perica, who made a second half substitute appearance before scoring the winning goal, added: “It is too early as we only played the first game of a two legged tie. We expect a tough match in the return leg as we will have to remain focused in order to ensure we don’t lose. They are a very good team with some excellent players. In my opinion this is the best team I played against during my tenure at Maccabi as they deserve a lot of respect”.

Maccabi’s owner, Mitch Goldhar, arrived in Tel Aviv ahead of the match against Nice and 2022/23 season opener on Sunday

The owner will attend tonight’s Conference League Play-Off match at Bloomfield against Nice as he will arrive in Tel Aviv ahead of the start of the 2022/23 season to support Vladimir Ivic and the players together with all the fans at Bloomfield.

Maccabi’s record so far stands on 68 victories, 38 draws and 59 defeats.

Ever since the final round before the Group Stages (Champions League, Europa League and as of last season the Conference league) was renamed as the Play-Off phase, Maccabi will make their 11^th appearance at this stage in 14 years.

Of the 7 Israeli clubs to reach the Play-Offs, Maccabi appeared the most with Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Be’ersheva both with appearances.

August 18^th is a date in which Maccabi already played Play-Off matches on two occasions in the past.

 On August 18^th 2011 Maccabi reached its’ highest victory in the Play-Offs with a 3-0 victory at Bloomfield over Greek giants Panathinaikos on the way to a historic qualification to the Europa League Group stages.

Five years later, on August 18^th 2016 Maccabi beat Hajduk Split 2-1 in the first leg of the Europa League Play-Offs at Bloomfield, before securing qualification at the return leg in Croatia a week later at the end of a dramatic penalty shoot-out.

Nice will be the fourth French opponents Maccabi faces in Europe after 3 two-legged ties against French clubs of which Maccabi won 3, drawn 1 and lost 2 with an even goal tally of 10-10.

Israeli clubs met their French counterparts for a total of 24 matches, winning 8 drawing 4 and losing 12 times

Sheran Yeini made the most appearances for Maccabi in the Play-Offs as the 35-year-old veteran captain who will play his 80^th European match for Maccabi, played 13 times in the Play-Offs.

Eliran Atar is Maccabi’s leading goal scorer at this stage with 5 goals.

Former Goalkeeper Juan Pablo Colinas is the oldest player to appear for Maccabi at this stage. The Spanish custodian who played at Maccabi between 2013 and 2015 featured in the Champions League Play-Offs against Basel 8 days before his 37^th birthday.

Moussa Konate is the youngest Maccabi player to play in the Play-Offs at the age of 18 and four days, as he played in the 3-0 victory over Panathinaikos in the 2011/12 season.

Sheran Yeini, who led Maccabi to a 3-2 aggregate victory over Aris Thessaloniki in the previous round, reflected on the team’s achievement in Greece during last week’s return leg. “We always believe in ourselves and know that we can progress in European competitions. We take ourselves seriously. This is fun as when we finish our playing careers we will always take with us some memories and the match against Aris is something I will definitely take with me and remember fondly. The passion for football, the crazy atmopshere in the stadium was extra ordinary and I am delighted that as a team we managed to qualify at the end of a game that evolved in a pretty bad way for us”.

On the odds in a double headed tie against Nice, Yeini added: “I don’t tend to make predictions even when we are regarded as favorites. European matches are always tough as this match is set to be tough for both sides. Obviously they have an excellent squad which is probably worth more than the Conference League but in the past we managed to get good results against better teams than us, so I hope we could do it tomorrow as well”.