Israel’s Playoff appearance record holder

Of the 13 seasons since the penultimate round has been named by UEFA as the final stage before the group phase, this is the 10^th time since 2009/10 season Maccabi reaches the Playoffs.

Maccabi is the record appearance holder at this stage, as Hapoel Be’ersheva and Maccabi Haifa will compete for the fourth time to level to match Hapoel Tel Aviv’s number of Playoff appearances.  

Maccabi Tel Aviv successfully advanced past the Champions League Playoff on the way to the group phase: FC Basel (2015/16) and four times to reach the Europa League group stages: Panathinaikos (2011/12), Hajduk Split (2016/17) Altach (2017/18) as well as Metalist Kharkiv (2013/14) at a tie which didn’t take place as the Ukrainians were disqualified.

Yeini’s record

Sheran Yeini played in Maccabi’s first Playoff match away to Paris Saint Germain (2-0 defeat in Paris) which took place exactly 11 years ago on August 19^th 2010. The same date Maccabi will face Shakhter Karagandy for the first leg in Astana.

Over the years, the veteran skipper played in no less than 11 European playoff matches with Maccabi.

Fourteen different Maccabi players scored in the Playoff stage, with Eliran Atar leading the list having scored 5 goals.

Maccabi’s record against teams from Kazakhstan

The tie against Shakhter Karagandy will Maccabi’s third encounter against teams from Kazakhstan.

In the 2016/17 campaign Maccabi knocked Kairat Almaty in a Europa League qualifier. Yossi Benayoun scored a late equaliser on the way to a 1-1 draw in Kazakhstan while Tal Ben Chaim and Gal Alberman scored a goal each as Maccabi won the return leg 2-1 in Netanya to advance to the 3^rd qualifying round.

Maccabi played Astana in the Europa League group stages of the 2017/18 campaign, losing twice (4-0 in Kazakhstan and 1-0 in Netanya).

Overall, 19 matches took place between teams from Kazakshtan and Israel as the record favours teams from Israel who won 8, drawn 6 and lost 5.

On this day: the 2-2 draw against Basel and the European debut

August 19^th returns us to two landmark dates in Maccabi’s history:

19.08.1992 Maccabi Tel Aviv made their debut appearance in European competitions recording a 2-1 victory over Malta’s FC  Valletta (Goals from Avi Cohen (Jerusalem) and Avi Nimni).

19.08.2015 Maccabi recorded the memorable 2-2 draw against Basel in Switzerland with Eran Zahavi completing a brace in the 96^th minute of the first leg to pave the way into the Champions League group stages.  

The veteran captain was asked whether the time difference between Israel and Kazakhstan should have an effect: “I don;t think it is a real problem, as it is only three hours. The only problem might be to speak to my children as I we have training sessions and would like to speak with them, but that is ok. It shouldn’t be a problem”.

The team from Kazakhstan, will host the match without fans due to the pandemic: “Every team needs the support of their fans. It might be an advantage for us, but still we have to play on an artificial pitch, which we will have to adjust to very quickly”

An opponent that is deep into their domestic league season, the shock they encountered during the season, the defensive style of play, the stadium and the pitch Maccabi will play on as they fight for a Conference League group stage berth

Having advanced past two qualifying rounds, Maccabi Tel Aviv reached the Conference League Playoffs. Sahakhter Karagandy separates between Maccabi and another appearance in a European group phase, so shortly before the two legged tie kicks-off it is time to get to know our opponents from Kazakhstan.

Knocked out Steaua Bucharest and are well into their domestic season

Shakhter reached the Conference League qualification campaign after finishing fourth in the Kazakhstan top flight that was played last season over 20 matches only. This is Shakhter’s first appearance in European competition since the 2014/15 season, as the Karagandy side reached the Playoffs in dramatic fashion. The Karagandy outfit needed two sets of penalty shoot-outs against Romanian side Steaua Bucharest in the 2^nd round and sudden death spot-kicks against Ukraine’s Kolos in the 3^rd round, to reach this stage.

Karagandy’s name might be familiar to football fans from their first and only appearance in the Europa League during the 2013/14 season. During that season they faced Maccabi Haifa and were held to a 2-2 draw in the first leg in Kazakhstan before losing the corresponding fixture 2-1 in Israel.

As opposed to Maccabi’s previous European opponents this season, Shakhter line-up against Maccabi after playing 19 league matches as they are currently ranked 11^th in the Kazakhstan table.

 

 

 

 

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A return to the artificial pitch

Shakhter had a poor start to their domestic season which began in March and included 4 defeats in the opening five league rounds which led to them parting company with coach Ali Aliyev. He was replaced by Magomed Adiyev, who also experienced an indifferent start but recently managed to steady the ship as Karagandy reaches the tie against Maccabi on the back of 4 victories and 2 draws from their last six matches in all competitions.

Despite the fact Shakhter comes from the city of Karagandy, they host their European matches at the Astana Arena in the capital city of Nur Sultan. Maccabi played against Astana at that stadium during the 2017/18 Europa League group stages as the artificial pitch will give Patrick van Leeuwen’s players a different than usual playing surface.

Three central defenders formation

Tactically, Karagandy tends to field a formation that changes between 4-5-1, 5-3-2 and 3-4-2-1. Shakhter scored 14 goals in 19 league matches so far while the two matches against Kolos in the previous round ended both in 0-0 draws before both teams were sent to the penalty spot.

Karagandy’s squad doesn’t lack experience as it consists of several players over the age of 30. Besides many Kazakhstani and Russian players, Karagandy has no less than 10 foreigners in the squad including Serbian midfielder duo Stefan Bukorac and Vuk Mitosevic. Karagandy top scorers this season are Arsen Khubolov and Aydos Tattybaev with two league goals each, so as far as goals Karagandy doesn’t score too much.

Regardless, Tattybaev scored 8 goals in the Kazakhstan Cup that took place over the past month, during which Karagandy met opponents from the top flight twice and another from the second division. Their record in those matches was much better as they scored 17 goals in 5 matches.          

 

 

 

 

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Stipe Perica completed his transfer from Watford to Maccabi after passing his medical and signing a one-year-deal at the club with an option to extend by a further season. The 26-year-old Croatian striker (193cm), joins Maccabi from Watford after an agreement for his transfer was reached with the Premiership club.   

Perica, told the club’s official website: “I am happy to be here and join the biggest club in Israel. I would like to wish my new teammates good luck in their match in Kazakhstan and hope to see all the fans in the stadium really soon”.

Maccabi’s Head of Football Department, Barak Itzhaki, added: “Perica is a striker with presence and abilities that perfectly match the profile we were looking for. We are certain Stipe will be a significant addition to Maccabi Tel Aviv’s attack and wish him good luck”.

Born in Zadar, Perica began his playing career at the Youth Academy of his boyhood club where he made his senior debut in September 2012 and scored during that season in the Croatian league 8 goals in 20 appearances.

After becoming the youngest player to represent and score for his country during the FIFA U-20 World Cup which took place in Turkey, Perica was bought in the summer of 2013 by Chelsea who loaned him out to NAC Breda. The Croatian striker scored 9 goals in 35 appearances for the Dutch side where he played until January 2015 before joining Udinese on loan. Having scored 3 goals in 20 appearances for Udinese, Perica made his transfer to the Italian side permanent and added a further 7 goals in 49 appearances until 2018.

The following season Perica spent on loan with Frosinone before switching to Turkey for another loan spell at Kasimpasa and Belgian outfit Mouscron for which he scored 7 goals in 15 appearances during the 2019/20 season. Last season, Perica scored a goal in 16 appearances for Watford in the Championship and helped the Hornets return to the Premier League.

Perica made 16 international appearances for Croatia’s young national teams scoring 9 goals between 2013-2016.

Maccabi faces Kazakhstani side Shakhter Karagandy on Thursday (16:00) for the first leg of the Conference League Playoff round. This morning (Tuesday) the team jetted out to Kazakhstan to prepare for the first of the two legged tie at the end of which a place in the group stage awaits the winner

Shortly after the training session at the PenguinPickUp training complex, Maccabi’s midfielder Dan Glazer spoke ahead of the task at hand. “We have a journey to a match in Kazakhstan which is far from easy. It is set to be one of the two most important matches we will have as we hope to do the job and get a good results for the return leg in Tel Aviv”.

Ahead of the conditions Glazer and his teammates await, the 24-year-old midfielder added: “We travel to a country at a different time zone with a 3-hours difference which we will have to get used to. This is the reason why we are flying at lunchtime and reach Astana this evening”. The artificial pitch at Astana arena is not a new venue for the team as Maccabi previously suffered a 4-0 Europa League defeat to Astana in 2017, but Glazer remained confident that this time round things will be different. “Tomorrow we will hold a training session on their artificial pitch so we will do our best in order to get used to it and get a good enough result that would bring the decider back to Bloomfield”.