The Conference League Round of 32 first leg against PSV Eindhoven will be Maccabi’s 160 match in European competitions – more than any other Israeli club.

Maccabi twice in the past advanced to a European knockout phase in the 2013/14 and the 2020/21 seasons. On both occasions Maccabi ended the group stage in 2^nd place to reach the round of 32.

In 2013/14 Maccabi faced Swiss outfit FC Basel and after a 0-0 draw at Bloomfield, were eliminated after suffering a 3-0 defeat at the St. Jakob Park stadium. Two players from the current squad participated in these matches: Sheran Yeini andTal Ben Chaim.

Last season Maccabi was drawn for a double headed tie against Shakhtar Donetsk as the Ukrainian side won 2-0 at Bloomfield and 1-0 in Kiev.

Maccabi played six matches against Dutch opponents and have a record of 3 victories, 2 defeats and 1 draw.

In the 2001/02 season Maccabi played against Roda JC Kerkrade in the 2^nd round of the UEFA Cup, suffered a 4-1 defeat in Holland and won 2-1 in Tel Aviv to lose 3-5 on aggregate.

In the 2004/05 season Maccabi played Ajax in the Champions League Group stage were beaten 3-0 at the Amsterdam Arena and won the return leg 2-1 at Ramat Gan’s national stadium.

Maccabi’s third Dutch opponents was AZ Alkmaar in the 2016/17 Europa League group phase. Maccabi beat AZ at the AFAS stadium in Alkmaar 2-1 before ending their match at Netanya in a 0-0 draw.

Eran Zahavi will not be the first Israeli to play against Maccabi in Europe but will be the first former player to do so as part of an international competition.

Manor Solomon started for Shakhtar Donetsk against Maccabi in both legs of the Europa League Round of 32 tie last season.

In the 2014/15 season, Sintayehu Sallallich made two substitute appearances for NK Maribor in the Champions League 3^rd Qualifying Round.

Maccabi Tel Aviv face PSV Eindhoven on Thursday for the first leg of the Conference League Round of 32 match at the Philips stadium. Maccabi reached the knockout phase of the Conference League at the first time of asking as Mladen Krstajic and Sheran Yeini spoke of what the team should expect at the Philips stadium that will hold a third of its 35,000 capacity

Watch Mladen Krstajic speak ahead of the match:

 

Yeini: “We are waiting for such matches”

Sheran Yeini, who made the most appearances for Maccabi in European competitions, said ahead of the match: “We are waiting for such matches. Representing your club in European competitions is amazing – we just wait for such matches as this is the reason why we play football, to play at such stadiums and against such clubs. We are ready for the challenge. We like to challenge ourselves every time and are ready to fight. We know that PSV are an excellent side but we came here to show who we are”.

The veteran Maccabi captain then spoke about the meeting with former teammate, Eran Zahavi, who currently plays for PSV, as he added: “He is a close friend, as we all know how successful he is. We appreciate him and wish him all the best, to continue scoring goals as long as he doesn’t score against us. He knows us very well and I am sure he briefed the PSV staff about who and what we are. They will be ready, but so will we”

 

Maccabi face PSV at the Phillips Stadium (19:45) for the lucrative match in the Conference League first knockout phase. Maccabi should land in Holland later this afternoon and hold the final practice at the Phillips stadium.

Having secured qualification from group A which included LASK, HJK Helsinki and Alashkert, Maccabi advanced to the Conference League Round of 32 for the two-legged tie against PSV.

The Conference League knockout phase is already here as Maccabi faces a tough and interesting hurdle. Maccabi face Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven for a double headed tie as shortly before the first leg at the Philips stadium the time has come to dive in and get to know our opponents.

 

 

The Eindhoven based club, who are one of Holland’s powerhouses, won the last of their 24 league Championships in the 2017/18 season. PSV also won 9 Dutch Cups and a record 12 Johan Cruyff Shields (Super Cup) but their well decorated trophy room doesn’t only feature domestic silverware.

PSV won the UEFA Cup which is known today as the Europa league in (1977/78) after a victory over Bastia in the final which took place over two legs. Ten years later, (1987/88) PSV added the most lucrative club trophy as they required a penalty shoot-out to beat Benfica of Portugal at the Neckarstadion in Stuttgart to win the European Cup currently known as the UEFA Champions League.

Some of the world’s household names such as Bobby Robson, Guus Hiddink, Dick Advocaat, Eric Gerets, Ronald Koeman, Phillip Cocu and Mark van Bommel guided PSV prior to Roger Schmidt who took-over as coach in April 2020.

Until recently, PSV were neck and neck with Ajax in the race for the Dutch league title, but despite losing some pace, a 5-0 victory over Eli Dasa’s Vitesse at the weekend proved they are back in form.

PSV began their European season in the Champions League qualifiers and advanced past Turkey’s Galatasaray and Midtjiland of Norway but missed out on qualification after being knocked by Benfica in the Play off round. They reached the Conference League knockout phase after finishing 3^rd in their Europa League group that included Monaco, Sturm Graz and a point adrift of Spanish side Real Sociedad that finished in the runners up spot.

 

Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven has been enjoying a close affiliation to Israeli football since September 2020 when former Maccabi forward Eran Zahavi joined the club. Currently ranked second in the Eredivsie table with 49 points from 22 league matches, PSV who are coached by Roger Schmidt, are five points adrift of league leaders Ajax.

The Eindhoven based club, who are one of Holland’s powerhouses, won the last of their 24 league Championships in the 2017/18 season. PSV also won 9 Dutch Cups and a record 12 Johan Cruyff Shields (Super Cup) but their well decorated trophy room doesn’t only feature domestic silverware.

PSV won the UEFA Cup which is known today as the Europa league in (1977/78) after a victory over Bastia in the final which took place over two legs. Ten years later, (1987/88) PSV added the most lucrative club trophy as they required a penalty shoot-out to beat Benfica of Portugal at the Neckarstadion in Stuttgart to win the European Cup currently known as the UEFA Champions League.

Some of the world’s household names such as Bobby Robson, Guus Hiddink, Dick Advocaat, Eric Gerets, Ronald Koeman, Phillip Cocu and Mark van Bommel guided PSV prior to Roger Schmidt who took-over as coach in April 2020.

Until recently, PSV were neck and neck with Ajax in the race for the Dutch league title, but despite losing some pace, a 5-0 victory over Eli Dasa’s Vitesse at the weekend proved they are back in form.

PSV began their European season in the Champions League qualifiers and advanced past Turkey’s Galatasaray and Midtjiland of Norway but missed out on qualification after being knocked by Benfica in the Play off round. They reached the Conference League knockout phase after finishing 3^rd in their Europa League group that included Monaco, Sturm Graz and a point adrift of Spanish side Real Sociedad that finished in the runners up spot.

 

Ivory Coast international Ibrahim Sangare as the 24-year-old defensive midfielder who joined in 2020 from French outfit Toulouse is PSV’s anchor-man. In goal however Joel Drommel and and Ivon Mvogo of Switzerland are fighting for the number one jersey. Who will be handed the gloves in a bid to hold Maccabi’s players at bay at the Philips stadium that could hold only 33% of its 35,000 capacity – time will tell.

 

 

Roger Schmidt, who coached Beijing Guoan between 2017-2019 was well aware of Eran Zahavi’s qualities from their time in China. There is no surprise the German coach opts to name Zahavi as his striker but an injury the Israeli suffered from that side-lined him for several weeks, saw Brazilian, Carlos Vinicius who joined on loan from Benfica and Maximiliano Romero of Argentina challenge Israel’s top striker for his place. Mario Gotze who scored 9 goals in 34 appearances in all competitions this season is also a force to be reckoned with as the diminutive German scored the winning goal for Germany in the 2014 World Cup Final against Argentina.

In the past, PSV were decorated by phenomenal strikers such as Romario, Ronaldo, Wim Kieft, Ruud Gullit, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Luc Nillis, Mateja Kezman, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Eidor Gudjohnsen. On the wings PSV also had famous players from Gerald Vaneburg to Arjen Robben, Park Ji-sung, Dennis Rommedahl, Ibrahim Afellay and Jefferson Farfan. 22-year-old Cody Gakpo appears to be PSV’s new future prospect as the left footed winger who is a product of the PSV academy already managed this season 12 goals and 13 assists in 31 appearances in all competitions. 19-year-old Noni Madueke is also someone to watch as the English born winger who recently recovered from an injury will compete for a place with Ritsu Doan of Japan.

Ivory Coast international Ibrahim Sangare as the 24-year-old defensive midfielder who joined in 2020 from French outfit Toulouse is PSV’s anchor-man. In goal however Joel Drommel and and Ivon Mvogo of Switzerland are fighting for the number one jersey. Who will be handed the gloves in a bid to hold Maccabi’s players at bay at the Philips stadium that could hold only 33% of its 35,000 capacity – time will tell.

 

Maccabi last night (Saturday) won one of the most dramatic derbies witnessed here in recent years. Djordje Jovanovic’s injury time winner led Maccabi to a 3-2 victory over Hapoel in the Tel Aviv derby which led us to look for some interesting statistics following the match.

Last night victory took the all-time record to 57-46 in Maccabi’s favor. The record of an 11 victory gap between the two clubs also stretched Maccabi’s unbeaten league run to 16 in succession and 21 in all competitions.

This is the second time in history that Maccabi scores an injury time winning goal. Djordje Jovanoviv 93^rd minute was scored at the exact minute Eran Zahavi scored in the memorable 3-2 derby victory in the 2013/14 season.

Jovanovic joins five more Maccabi players who scored in their first two league appearances. The 22-year-old Serbian striker joins Alejandro Kenig (1990/91), Ben Luz (1994/95), Yevgeni Kashenetsev (1995/96), Eran Levy (2005/06), Moussa Konate (2011/12).

Up until yesterday, Ben Luz was the only player to score winning goals in his first two matches (December 1994).

In his first two matches, Luz scored the winning goals against Maccabi Petah Tikva and Hapoel Be’ersheva, but these matches were not back-to-back.

Stipe Perica’s opening goal was scored after 160 seconds (3^rd minute) and is ranked fourth in Maccabi’s fast goal list in derbies.

Dan Biton, dished out two assists for Perica and Gabi Kanichowsky) and played a key role in Jovanovic’s winner. Biton joins a list of 7 players who assisted two goals in derbies.

The 26-year-old midfielder stretched his recent good form with assists in 3 matches in succession. Over the past five seasons, only Eli Dasa (2018/19) and Eduardo Guerrero (2020/21) reached such an achievement.

All three goal scorers, Perica, Knichowsky and Jovanovic scored their debut goals in Tel Aviv derby matches.

 

 

“I have no words, it was a crazy game” Biton said after the match, “I am over the moon we managed to clinch it. Our amazing set of fans deserve this for pushing us throughout the game right from the start. I am proud of my teammates as everyone left their hearts on the pitch”.

Biton, who set up Maccabi’s first two goals for Stipe Perica and Gabi Kanichowsky before being involved in the dramatic late winner, spoke about his recent good form, added: “I don’t like to talk about myself. We have a good coach and excellent players. The victory is not just me, but all the guys left their hearts on the pitch tonight and I am just over the moon”

Preview

Currently ranked third in the table with 38 points from 21 matches, Maccabi arrived at Bloomfield stadium for the second Tel Aviv derby of the season. Maccabi’s coach, Mladen Krstajic, made a single change to his starting line-up from the side that beat Kiryat Shmona last week as he kept both the defence and midfield unchanged.

Daniel Peretz remained in goal with Enric Saborit and Idan Nachmias as the two central defenders while Andre Geraldes and Ofir Davidzada completed the back-four on the right and left respectively. Dan Glazer led the team out wearing the captain’s armband in the anchor-man role with Eden Shamir, Gabi Kanichowsky and Dan Biton in a diamond shaped midfield.  Eylon Almog, stepped-in for Tal Ben Chaim as Krstajic’s only change as he joined Stipe Perica as the two frontmen. Djordje Jovanovic who scored last week’s winning goal against Kiryat Shmona, remained on the substitutes bench alongside Matan Baltaxa, Matan Hozez, Tal Ben Chaim, Brandley Kuwas, Sheran Yeini, Avi Rikan, Eyal Golasa and Daniel Tenenbaum.

First Half

Bloomfield stadium was packed to the rafters as a sell-out crowd was present for the Tel Aviv derby creating an electric atmosphere. Maccabi began the match with purpose and intention and didn’t take long before the deadlock was broken.

Three minutes after the start, Stipe Perica controlled the ball inside the centre circle before knocking it down to Dan Biton. The diminutive midfielder rode a couple of Hapoel tackles and released Perica clear through. With only the keeper to beat, the tall Croatian striker kept his calm and slotted the ball past Ernstas Setkus to silence Hapoel’s fans and send the Yellow and Blue fans into a state of delirium.

Biton tried his luck with a left foot shot from the edge of the area in the 9th minute forcing Setkus to a double save before Eylon Alomog could tuck-in the rebound. Seconds later, flares and smoke grenades were thrown onto the pitch from Hapoel’s North stand forcing play to be stopped. When the smoke finally cleared and referee Yigal Fried restarted the match, Biton continued to look dangerous as another trademark left foot shot was caught by Setkus in the 18th minute.

In the 26^th minute and against the run of play Hapoel were back on level terms as Ben Biton exploited a mistake in Maccabi’s defence to send a low weak shot that beat Daniel Peretz.

Perica came close as he flashed a shot which narrowly missed the target following a cut-back from Andre Geraldes on 33.

Shai Elias tested Peretz with a shot which was equalled by Maccabi’s keeper in the 37th minute before Ofir Davidzada recovered in time to block a Shlomi Azulay shot shortly after.  A clever flick by Enric Saborit that released Perica on 41 handed Maccabi’s striker a glorious chance to restore the lead before the interval but somehow the Croat side-footed his effort wide.

Despite six minutes of added time, Maccabi couldn’t find an opening as the halftime whistle sent both teams to regroup in the dressing rooms.

Second Half

With no changes to either side at the break, both teams emerged after the interval for another hot- tempered half which began with an Idan Nachmias booking three minutes after the restart. A minute later however Maccabi were back in-front as Almog, dispossessed a Hapoel defender of the ball, picked Perica whose square ball was flicked by Biton into the path of Gabi Kanichowsky. The diminutive midfielder, gave Setkus no chance as he blasted his shot into the top corner to score Maccabi’s second and score his third league and six in all competitions.

Hapoel must have thought they levelled the score in the 54th minute as Osher Davida dribbled past Peretz who was caught off his line, but Eden Shamir cleared the danger from the goalmouth. Mladen Krstajic made his first change a minute later as Djordje Jovanovic replaced Almog on 55.

Hapoel had the ball in the back of the net in the 67th minute as Peretz made an initial save from Shlomi Azulay’s header only for Davida to react first and slot in the rebound. The referee assistant raised his flag for offside, but VAR intervened and ruled the goal should stand thus setting the score at 2-2.

Krstajic added a fresh pair of legs as Tal Ben Chaim replaced Perica in the 86th minute. As the fourth official indicated 5 minutes of added time, Krstajic made his third substitution as Shamir bowed out and was replaced by Sheran Yeini.

Inside injury time, Maccabi took the lead for the third time on the night as Biton floated a ball into the box, Yeini flicked with his head and Jovanovic manage to bundle the ball home from point blank range.
Maccabi’s 12^th victory of the season, increased the point tally to 41 points, six behind Hapoel Be’ersheva and seven ahead of Hapoel.