With a 0-0 draw from the first leg in Montenegro, the tie will be decided at Bloomfield stadium as Maccabi Tel Aviv host Sutjeska of Montenegro for the Conference League 2^nd qualifying round (20:30).

Maccabi’s plans received a twist in Podgorica last week following the dismissal of Eden Karzev for two bookable offences which left the side with 10 men for the majority of the second half. Despite the numerical disadvantage, Patrick van Leeuwen’s side managed to keep a clean sheet and will try complete the job in front of the home fans.

This will be the first European match Bloomfield will stage with fans since the Champions League Playoff 1-1 draw against Basel that secured qualification  to the group stage back in 2015/16. With Maccabi hosting the Champions League group stage at Sammy Ofer, the refurbishment at Bloomfield that led to Maccabi relocating for three years to Netanya, and COVID keeping out fans last season – the Jaffa stadium will welcome fans for a European night after 2,165 days.

Some numbers:

Maccabi finished their first leg of a European tie with a draw away from home on 7 occasions.

The first time resulted with a painful Champions League Playoff 1-0 defeat to Grasshoppers Zurich at Bloomfield in the 1995/96 season, after the first leg in Switzerland ended in a 1-1 draw.

Since that tie, Maccabi advanced through in all of its’ 6 home legs that followed draws away from home: Dynamo Zagreb (2001/02), HJK Helsinki (2004/05), FC Basel (2015/16), Kairat Almaty (2016/17), Ferencvaros and Pyunik Yerevan (2018/19).

In 12 of the 21 seasons Maccabi played European qualifiers in July – they were never knocked out during that month.

“We will approach this game in a manner that you will see an aggressive Maccabi Tel Aviv that knows what we want from ourselves. We will try score an early goal and bring our aggression to the field with tackles and heart. The most important thing is to win the match and advance to the next stage”

The 25-year-old defender joined the club in 2017 from Hapoel Petah Tikva spent loan spells with Hapoel Acco (2018), and Bnei Yehuda (2018-20) before breaking into Maccabi’s first team at the beginning of last season.

On the journey he went, Baltaxa said: “When I signed for Maccabi I knew it will be difficult to break into the first team after coming form a second division side. I knew I had to have some sort of journey. There was uncertainty every summer, as one doesn’t know whether you are staying or going. I experienced 2.5 years of loans and kept on telling myself: ‘Maybe my place is not at Maccabi’, but I still wanted to prove myself as a legitimate top flight player. When I returned at the beginning of last season I said ‘Enough is enough. I am not going on loan anymore as I know my place is here’ Patrick let me play as a central defender and we saw that there is some potential as I knew I will not be going anywhere and instead I will be fighting for my place”.

Baltaxa, whose performances during the season earned him a first ever call-up to the Israel national team, revealed: “Knowing that the call-ups to the national team should come any time soon, I kept going into the office of Yoav Ziv our team manager asking him: ‘Are the call ups out yet? After one of the training sessions he pulled out the paper and showed me that I was in. I walked into the gym, sat there by myself and started crying my eyes. At that moment, Patrick van Leeuwen approached me and said: ‘Well done. Now go and take it a notch further. It’s proof that hard work pays off and you should continue from here”.

Baltaxa, who got married this summer, in an uncharacteristic fashion, at least in terms of a footballer, revealed what went on behind the scenes: “Way before choosing the date, I checked the international schedule and saw when the national are playing just in case I will be called-up and so that I would avoid the chance of missing out. We are both two very humble people and really love our families so we decided that at our wedding will only have people that are very close to us. In every day that passes by, I am delighted with our choice”.

“It is very disappointing, as we want to win every trophy and win every match but at the same time I would like to say that I am proud to be part of Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club, as we will show better football and I am sure that results will follow” Dan Glazer said tonight (Sunday) at the end of the Super Cup against Maccabi Haifa (2-0).

The midfielder, who wore the captain’s armband on the night, added: “There is a relatively new squad of players here, several players left and many young and new players. We are at the beginning of the season, we will make the necessary adaptations and I am sure everything will be ok. We will remember those painful moments (watching another team lift a trophy) and they will give us motivation for the rest of the season”

Pregame

Three days after the 0-0 draw against Sutjeska in Montenegro and four days before the return leg at Bloomfield, Patrick van Leeuwen’s charges put their European exploits aside in favor of the first domestic trophy of the season.

For the first time ever in Super Cup history, an encounter between Maccabi and bitter rivals Maccabi Haifa supplied a mouth watering fixture which officially opens the domestic season.

Silverware and bragging rights are not the only thing at stake as the winner of the Super Cup guarantees itself a place in the Toto Cup semi final.

Maccabi’s coach Patrick van Leeuwen made four changes from the side that was held to a 0-0 draw in Podgorica as new signing Idan Nachmias was handed his official debut as the partner of Louis Hernandez at the heart of defense. Enric Saborit returned to the left side of defense with Andre Geraldes completing the back four that protected the goal of Daniel Peretz.

In the absence of Sheran Yeini who is still recovering from COVID, Dan Glazer, who made a second half substitute appearance against Sutjeska, was handed the captain’s armband. Shahar Piven and Avi Rikan completed the midfield trio. Yonatan Cohen and Eduardo Guerrero were both assigned to the winger’s role while Osama Khalaila who made his debut against Sutjeska as a substitute, made his first start leading Maccabi’s attack.

First Half

A minute after the start Maccabi were awarded a free kick near the corner flag which was whipped in by Yonatan Cohen before Haifa’s defense cleared into the path of Avi Rikan who blasted his shot high. Within a minute Osama Khalaila was fouled almost in the same position, but this time Cohen’s free kick was headed over by Louis Hernandez.

Dan Glazer was the first player to go into the book of referee Liran Liani for what seemed like a harmless challenge on Tjaronn Chery in the middle of the park on 15. Patrick van Leeuwen protests saw the fourth official signal to the referee who consequently also booked Maccabi’s coach. 

A goalmouth scramble following a Haifa in the 24th minute saw Daniel Peretz somehow push the ball off his line before Enric Saborit cleared the danger. Three minutes later Ben Sahar managed to get the ball past Daniel Peretz , but Haifa’s celebrations were short-lived as the goal was ruled out for offside.

In the 35th minute Haifa had the ball in the back of the net but once again the goal was ruled out for offside. Idan Nachmias also received a booking on 37 for a tackle on Sahar. Omer Atzili curled the resulting free kick that narrowly missed the target as the ball went just over Peretz’s goal.

With no goals in the first half, Liani’s halftime whistle sent both teams into the dressing room to catch their breaths for 15 minutes.

Second Half

A minute after the restart, Maccabi’s claims for a penalty were waved by the referee despite the fact a shot seemed to have struck the hand of a Haifa defender in the box. A minute later Mohamad Abu Fani flashed a shot wide of Peretz’s goal. In the 49th minute however the deadlock was finally broken as Peretz pulled a stunning save to keep out Atzili’s header following a Din David cross. But the young Maccabi custodian could do nothing to keep out Sahar’s close range rebound as Haifa took the lead.

Right on the hour mark, Cohen flashed a shot high and wide of the target while a minute later Van Leeuwen made a double substitution. Matan Hozez replaced the tired Guerrero while Ido Shahar made his senior debut appearance for Maccabi coming on for Rikan. Van Leeuwen made his third change of the game as Enric Saborit bowed out on 64 and was replaced by Ofir Davidzada.

Hozez was brought down near the edge of the Haifa area before Cohen’s free kick shaved the top of the crossbar with his free kick on 69. Three minutes later Van Leeuwen made his final two changes as Tal Ben Chaim and Eylon Almog replaced Khalaila and Nachmias. But less than a minute later, Haifa doubled their lead through a solo effort from Abu Fani.

Inside injury time a Hozez cross was parried by Josh Cohen into the path of Yonatan Cohen whose shot was headed off the line by Sean Goldberg as proof that this was not going to be Maccabi’s night.

The Super Cup will officially kick-start the 70^th domestic football season since the State of Israel was proclaimed (65 regular seasons and 4 back-to-back seasons, so far).

Maccabi’s record in the opening match of the season is currently: 47 victories, 10 draws and 12 defeats.

The Super Cup match between State Cup winners Maccabi and League Champions Maccabi Haifa will be the 31^st in the history of Israeli football.

The first Champions vs Cup winners match was played in 1957 and took place on an annual and almost regular basis until 1990. The competition was re-introduced at the start of the 2015/16 in a match between Cup Winners Ironi Kiryat Shmona and League champions Maccabi. (Kiryat Shmona won the Cup at the end of a penalty shoot-out).

Of the 13 clubs that had won Super Cup, Maccabi won the trophy more than any other club (7) while Maccabi Haifa (3).

This will be the first meeting between the two clubs in the Super Cup.

Maccabi could set a new record as a victory in Sunday’s Super Cup will see them lift the trophy for the third time in succession.

Last season Patrick van Leeuwen guided Maccabi to victory in the Super Cup at the end of a two-legged tie against Hapoel Be’ersheva (2-0 victory in both legs). The previous season Maccabi won the Super Cup with a 1-0 victory over State Cup Winners Bnei Yehuda.

No less than 93 Maccabi players appeared in the Super Cup. Miko Belo has the most appearances with four to his name (1968, 1971, 1978 and 1980).

Eran Zahavi (2015/16) and Nick Blackman (2020/21) both scored a brace in Super Cup. Shalom Shikva and Moshe Assis scored two goals for maccabi in two different matches and together with Zahavi and Blackman are Maccabi’s leading goal scorers in the competition.