On facing a tough schedule, Hozez added: “This is what you get when you play in a European competition, but the squad is adapted to such a schedule and we are ready”.

On the feelings after the match against LASK and the support the team received at the game: “It was an interesting end to the game and we believed we could score and even win the game. The match was pretty even and suchna result at a difficult game is not bad. It was very exciting to see our fans on Thursday, their support made us very happy and gave us good energies – we expect them to do exactly the same on Sunday. We will do everything in order to make them happy and let them leave the stadium satisfied”.

The midfielder who made a second half substitute appearance who once again scored a vital goal in Europe, spoke after the 1-1 draw against LASK in Klagenfurt, couldn’t hide his smile after the match: “I am delighted, if this is a regular feature then I am happy. But obviously I’d rather start the match and do it at an earlier stage of the game. But I am here for the team and I will have to come in and do it, then this is what I will do”.

The 26-year-old added: “This is a point that shows a lot of character and mental strength” Shamir summed up and added: “The fans who traveled here today and supported us deserve a good word, they deserved that we send them home proud

Pregame

Klagenfurt’s Wörthersee stadium hosted Maccabi Tel Aviv for the Conference League group stage second Match day against LASK. With both teams winning their respective first matches against Alashkert of Armenia and HJK Helsinki, Maccabi had a tough task on their hands against the Austrians who won in Finland. Several absentees were missing from Maccabi’s squad as Enric Saborit, Avi Rikan, Maor Kandil, Idan Nachmias and Eyal Golasa didn’t travel while Tal Ben Chaim was also withdrawn in the last minute.

Patrick van Leeuwen made a single change from the side that was beaten in Be’ersheva last weekend as Shahar Piven replaced the injured Nachmias at the heart of defence. Daniel Peretz kept his place in goal with Luis Hernandez partnering Piven right in-front of the 21-year-old keeper while Andre Gerlades and Ofir Davidzada completing the back-four.

The midfield remained unchanged with captain Sheran Yeini and Dan Glazer as the two anchor-men while Dan Biton was at the top of the midfield trio. Gabi Kanichowsky and Brandley Kuwas were assigned to both wings in support of Croatian striker Stipe Perica who led the line.

First Half

Four minutes after the start Maccabi reached their first chance as Dan Biton released Gabi Kanichowsky into the area, but the diminutive winger who raced clear through, was judged to have been offside. In the 10th minute however the hosts took the lead as a cross from the left was flicked by Thomas Goiginger onto the post before Sacha Horvath reacted first to bury in the opener past Daniel Peretz. LASK came close to double their lead a minute later as Alexander Schmidt received the ball behind Maccabi’s defensive line only to be denied by Peretz who charged off his line to squander the chance.

Dan Glazer came close with a header that went wide on 15 following a Dan Biton corner. Two minutes later Biton released Stipe Perica who was put under pressure by a Lask defender before the tall Croat sent his shot over the crossbar. Right on the half hour mark Goiginger skipped past a Glazer tackle, raced through the middle and fired a powerful low drive that Peretz pushed out for a corner.

Second Half

With no changes at halftime, Maccabi reached a good chance in the 55th minute as Perica timed his run well to ghost behind Lask’s defense but failed to connect onto Kanichowsky’s delicate chip. Two minutes later Kanichowsky tried a shot from the edge of the area that sailed high and wide of the target. Biton went into the referee’s book for a mistimed tackle in the 60th minute before Peretz and Andre Geraldes rescued Maccabi from conceding a second. Van Leeuwen reacted as he made a double change replacing Biton and Brandley Kuwas with Matan Hozez and Eduardo Guerrero on 62.

Van Leeuwen made two more changes in the 71st minute as Eden Shamir replaced Sheran Yeini while Osama Khalaila came in for Perica. In the 87th minute Van Leeuwen’s changes paid off as two of the substitutes  combined for the equaliser. Davidzada found Guerrero on the edge of the Lask area before the Panamanian’s shot come cross was deflected in by Shamir for his second Maccabi goal in Europe. Boosted by the late equaliser Hozez came close in injury time with a shot from inside the area that goalkeeper Alexander Schlager caught with relative ease.

On the back of the 4-1 victory over Alashkert in the opening match of the group stages, MD2 of the Conference League takes Maccabi Tel Aviv to Austria where they face LASK at Klagenfurt. Shortly before the match, we took time to get to know who seems on paper as the toughest hurdle we face in Group 1.

While Maccabi were drawn from the second seeded pot, LASK were drawn from the first as the Austrian club who are based in the city of Linz ended last season fourth in their domestic table. Despite ending the regular season in third place, LASK finished the Austrian Playoffs in fourth to earn a European berth. They began their Conference League campaign in the 3^rd qualifying round where they knocked Serbian outfit Vojvodina and recorded a comfortable 7-1 aggregate victory. Scottish side St. Johnstone were LASK’s opponents in the Playoffs before qualification to the group stages was secured thanks to a 2-0 victory in the return at Scotland and a 3-1 aggregate win.

A Round of 16 encounter with Manchester United

The Austrian side are making their fourth successive appearance in a European group stage as LASK played in the last two seasons in the EUROPA League. In 2019/20 LASK had an impressive run that saw them reach the Round of 16 where they were knocked out by Manchester United, losing the 1^st leg in Austria 5-0 and the return leg at Old Trafford 2-1. Last season LASK finished third in their group behind Tottenham Hotspur and Antwerp.

LASK beat Admira Wacker at the weekend to move into 6th in the table with 10 points from 9 matches.t. In Europe, the Austrians began the group stage on a high note with a 2-0 victory over HJK Helsinki in Finland on MD1.

The stadium

LASK hosts their home league matches at the TGW Arena but in Europe they travel 4 hours to Klagenfurt where they will host Maccabi at the Wörthersee Stadion. The 30,000 capacity stadium located at the Sportpark in Klagenfurt was one of the venues used during the 2008 EURO’s hosted in Austria and Switzerland.

Managerial and squad changes

LASK’s indifferent start in the Austrian league led to the recent parting company from Dominik Thalhammer whose 38-year-old assistant Andreas Wieland was appointed as Head Coach.

The squad of LASK consists mostly of local Austrian players yet have 11 foreign players from 10 different nationalities. LASK’s senior striker, is 22-year-old Frenchman Mamoudou Karamoko n. Last season’s top scorer Johannes Eggenstein who scored 20 goals in all competitions ended his loan spell from Werder Bremen and left in the summer.

Two players who also left LASK at the end of last season were Danish midfielder Mads Madsen to join Slavia Prague and central defender Gernot Trauner who was signed by Dutch giants Feyenoord. At the heart of defence LASK added Dario Maresic on loan from Stade Reims with the Austrians’ attacking midfield  led by Thomas Goiginger and Husein Balic.

Andreas Gruber who scored 10 goals last season and is regarded as a key player, has been suffering from a long term injury since February. Two more promising young players who joined this summer are South Korea’s Hong Hyun-seok (22) and Japanese winger Keito Nakamura (21).

 

On the feeling ahead of another European match, the veteran captain added: “It is always exciting to play in Europe. For us it is an amazing adventure. Seeing different places, it is true that during COVID things are tougher and more complicated, but we visit new stadiums – this competition is amazing to take part in as we would like to continue for as long as possible”.

Yeini, who could make his 71st appearance for Maccabi in Europe, spoke about the last league match the team had lost at Be’ersheva. “We were disappointed by the way we played. It wasn’t our regular ability, we hope to be more consistent with our form and as that didn’t happen we were angry. It is normal for a footballer as we always want to be the best”