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”.

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s preparations for the Conference League Play-Offs against OGC Nice are well underway, as Vladimir Ivic’s charges will host the French outfit at Bloomfield stadium on Thursday. Today (Tuesday) the team were boosted by the return of Dor Peretz who held his first training session since returning to the club.

The 27-year-old midfielder who returned from a year in Italy where he played for Venezia, completed his comeback as he held his first training session with his new-old teammates at the PenguinPickUp complex in Kiryat Shalom. Watch the welcoming reception Peretz received.

Dor Peretz (27) returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv after the midfielder who played last season at Venezia FC successfully completed his medical at Assaf Harofeh and signed a contract until the end of the 2024/25 season with an option to extend.

After signing his contract, Peretz, who will return to wear the number 42 jersey at Maccabi, told the club’s official website: “It is exciting to return home and feels like I have never left. To say that I am excited to walk in to the dressing room once again, to meet the teammates, to train at Kiryat Shalom and to arrive at Bloomfield on Thursday for another European match is by no means a cliché. It is true. The hard work begins here and now as I wish all of us success and that we could reach all our targets“.

Barak Itzhaki, Head of Maccabi’s football department added: “The qualities Dor has are well known to us all us, therefore we are all convinced that he would settle in quickly with the current squad and contribute a lot to Maccabi Tel Aviv this season and in the future”.

Peretz joined Venezia FC at the start of the 2021/22 season and made 18 appearances in Serie A’ as well as 3 more appearances in the Italian Cup.

In seven successful seasons at Maccabi’s first team, Peretz won 11 trophies: 3 League Championships (14/15, 18/19, and 19/20), 2 State Cups (14/15, 20/21) 4 Toto Cups (14/15, 17/18, 18/19, and 20/21) as well as 2 Super Cups (19/20, 20/21).

Peretz who joined Maccabi’s Youth Academy at the age of 14 before making his senior debut at a Toto Cup match against Maccabi Netanya in 2014, scored a total of 21 goals in 241 appearances in all competitions.

During his first season with the senior team, Peretz played an integral part in the Maccabi side that won the treble (League Championship, State Cup, and Toto Cup) while the following season (15/16) qualified with to the Champions League group stages.

Peretz also featured with Maccabi 3 times in the Europa League group stages (16/17, 17/18, and 20/21) including qualification to the Round of 32 in 20/21.

Overall Peretz made 46 appearances for Maccabi in European competitions and is ranked sixth amongst the players who represented the club in Europe.