On Thursday (21:30) Maccabi Tel Aviv kick-off their European journey in the newly introduced competition – the Europa Conference League. The first hurdle Patrick van Leeuwen and his charges will have to overcome is Montenegrin outfit Sutjeska. Before traveling to play the first leg in Podgorica, there is no better time to learn about our opponents.

We contacted Savo Pavicevic, former Montenegro international and Maccabi central defender between 2010-2011, who these days is making the first steps to his coaching career. Pavicevic, is currently assistant coach at FK Spartak Subotica in the top Serbian division. Before diving into the professional side of things, Pavicevic wished to emphasize the warm spot he still has to Maccabi, the fans and the good friends he still has from his time at the club.

As for Maccabi’s opponents, the statistics reveal that Sutjeska earned a European berth and a spot in the Conference League qualifiers after finishing the Montenegrin League in the runners up spot, 28 points adrift of Champions FK Buducnost Podgorica. This is the second time in succession Sutjeska finish second in the table having won the championship twice in 2019 and 2018. Pavicevic, highlighted that by saying: “Sutjeska is one of the best teams in Montenegro. The operate very well, as this is a club with good and stable management”.

Sutjeska made their European debut appearance in the 2003/04 and so far have to advance beyond the second qualifying round of either the Champions League or Europa League.

Despite originating from the second largest city in Montenegro – Niksic, refurbishment to their home stadium will see Sutjeska host Maccabi at the DG Arena in the capital of Podgorica. The compact stadium that underwent a recent refurbishment of its’ own (2018) has a capacity of 4,300 fans. COVID restrictions will limit the number of fans allowed in the stadium to 450 only.

“Football in Montenegro is of good level” Pavicevic reveals, “There are 10 teams in the top flight and the quality is good. If you ask me about Sutjeska, their players have a plenty of good quality, and a good combination of youngsters and veterans. They look like a team and play like a team. They are very compact and have players with pace. Sadly I can’t reveal all the secrets because at the end of the day you are talking about a team from my native country”.

Sutjeska’s squad mostly consists of home grown players and quite a few youngsters looking to make the step-up  into the more senior leagues. One of them is Milutin Osmajic, who played a central role last season as he finished second in Sutjeska’s top goal scorers chart with 13 league goals, but he left in the summer to join Spanish outfit Cadiz. “Montenegro is a small country, but one that raised many quality players like Stevan Jovetic, Mirko Vucinic and Stefan Savic. I also played for the Montenegro national team” Pavicevic recalls, “It is a country that lives for football and I can easily say that Osmajic who left is a very good player”.

One who did stay at Sutjeska is veteran striker Bozo Markovic (31) who was the top scorer last season in the Montenegrin league with 16. In midfield one can find Brazilian midfielder Caique with Sutjeska recently signing Marko Zucevic of Serbia. Another noticeable name is right-back Dragan Grivic who played for Montenegro in the 3-1 friendly defeat to Israel six weeks ago.

So how does Maccabi fare in this tie? We tried understanding from Pavecevic who knows all about the journey Maccabi had been through since his time at the club 10 years ago: “I follow Israeli football every season and know that Maccabi are very strong and win titles every year which wasn’t the case when I was at Maccabi. We had a good team at the time, but these days they are a much more serious club, win trophies, go a long way in Europe, play good football and I only wish them to continue this way”.

Despite all that, as far as Pavicevic is concerned, Maccabi expect a tough challenge in the Balkans. “In my opinion Maccabi will have a difficult tie against Sutjeska” he said, “It should be a good game and if I must compare between Israeli and Montenegrin football I think that many players from Montenegro could easily play in Israel like Jankovic at Beitar Jerusalem. They are players with a lot of talent. I don’t want to predict what will happen, because Montenegro are deep inside my heart and so is Maccabi. They are two clubs that I love and wish them both success’.

A new season kicks off. Maccabi Tel Aviv left this morning (Wednesday) to Montenegro ahead of the Conference League second qualifying round first leg against Sutjeska of Montenegro.

The players, coaching staff and club officials arrived at Ben Gurion airport before taking off to Podgorica ahead of tomorrow’s match (Thursday 21:30).

The match will officially open Maccabi’s 2021/22 season against the Montenegrin side that knocked out Georgian outfit Gagra in the previous round.

All the pictures and reports could be seen on the official website, App, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter pages.

 

Eduardo Guerrero, will continue playing at Maccabi Tel Aviv after the 21-year-old Panamanese forward signed a three-year-deal with an option to extend by a further season.

After signing the new deal, Guerrero told the club’s official website: “First I would like to thank god who for me is the most important thing. I am grateful to my family who always supported me regardless of the distance and obviously express my gratitude to Maccabi Tel Aviv FC – all the staff at the Youth Academy and the senior side who helped me fulfil my dream to become a professional football player. I am delighted to continue at a team together with players who grew-up alongside me and at a club I developed at. Now we will continue working hard in order to take Maccabi to the places it deserves to be”.

Maccabi’s Head of the Football Department, Barak Itzhaki, added: “Eduardo is a perfect example for a player who joined us a young age and completed the path many players take on the way to the senior side. Guerrero proved so far that hard work, perseverance and commitment always pay off as we wish Eduardo success”.

Guerrero made his footballing footsteps at his native Panama with CD Universitario before joining Maccabi’s Youth Academy on-loan in September 2018 at the age of 17. The industrious forward scored 16 goals in 33 appearances in all competitions for Maccabi’s U-19’s in the 2018/19 season. The following season, Guerrero joined second division side Beitar Tel Aviv Bat-Yam for a one-season long loan-spell during which he scored 6 goals in 38 appearances.  

Guerrero, who joined Maccabi’s first team at the start of last season, made his senior debut in the Super Cup against Hapoel Be’ersheva in August 2020. Three months later, Guerrero scored his first goal on his league debut during the 2-2 draw against Maccabi Haifa. Overall the Panamanese scored 7 goals in 27 appearances in all competitions and in his first season won the Super Cup, Toto Cup and State Cup. Guerrero also played his part in Maccabi’s European campaign that culminated in the team reaching the Europa League Round of 32.

 

Maccabi kick-off the European campaign on Thursday (21:30) as they travel to Montenegro and face Sutjeska.

The State Cup winners discovered today their potential 3rd qualifying round opponents, after the draw took place at UEFA’s Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Slovakian side Spartak Trnava and Romanian outfit Sepsi OSK Sfantu Gheorghe were drawn to face Maccabi in the next qualifying round, in the event they advance past Montenegrin side Sutjeska.

Matches are scheduled to take place on August 5th and 12th with Maccabi potentially playing the first match away from home and hosting the return leg at Bloomfield.

Maccabi’s opponents in the Conference League second qualifying round was determined this evening (Thursday) as Patrick van Leeuwen’s charges will begin their European assault against Sutjeska of Montenegro.

With a 1-0 lead from last week’s first leg in Montenegro, Sutjeska completed the job as they salvaged a 1-1 against the Georgian Cup winners and advanced with a 2-1 victory on aggregate.

Maccabi will travel to Montenegro next week ahead of Thursday’s first leg on July 22nd (21:30) before hosting the return leg at Bloomfield a week later on July 29th (20:30)

Shortly before ending their 10-day training camp in Holland, Maccabi Tel Aviv recorded a 2-0 victory over Dutch side Heerenveen this evening (Tuesday) at Putten.

Sheran Yeini scored a header to give Patrick van Leeuwen’s side an early lead before substitute Dor Turgeman secured the victory over Heerenveen that finished last season 12th in the top Dutch league.

First Half

Maccabi opened the game on the front foot and within four minutes put the 1-0 defeat to NAC Breda behind them. Matan Hozez who was brought down by a Heerenveen defender, whipped the resulting free-kick that was headed by Sheran Yeini past Heerenveen keeper Edwin Mulder to break the deadlock.   

In the 15^th minute, Heerenveen came close from a corner but Ofir Davidzada, playing at left back in the absence of the injured Enric Saborit, cleared the danger. Two minutes later, Mitchell Van Bergen was caught Maccabi’s defense off-guard before Maccabi’s keeper Daniel Peretz, reacted well and pushed the shot wide. Davidzada almost managed to score at the opposite end on 25 as he found himself on the end of an Eduardo Guerrero square ball, but the shot on his weaker right foot was collected by Mulder.

Tibor Halilovic should have punished Maccabi two minutes later as he ghosted into the area, but from a comfortable position miscued his shot wide of Peretz’s post.
Maccabi came close to double the score eight minutes before the interval in a counter attack that began with an Avi Rikan through ball that carved Heerenveen’s defense open to find Yonatan Cohen. The forward’s initial left-foot shot was parried by Mulder into the path of Gurrero who picked Rikan with a perfect square ball. But the veteran midfielder was let down by his finish as his shot was caught by Heerenveen’s keeper.

Second Half

With a 1-0 lead at halftime, Van Leeuwen made four changes as Bar Cohen, Eylon Almog, Novatos Miroshi and Osama Khalaila replaced Rikan, Hozez, Yonatan Cohen and Ido Shahar after the interval.

Three minutes after being introduced, Almog cut-in from the left flank and sent a shot that missed the target. Henk Veerman tried to beat Peretz with a chip on 54 but the young Maccabi keeper charged out of his qoal to squander the chance.
Van Leeuwen made two more changes in the 58^th minute as he replaced Shahar Piven and Matan Baltaxa who both had a solid display at right-back and center back respectively, with Maor Kandil and Idan Nachmias.

The industrious Guerrero, who terrorized Heerenveen’s defense both in the first and second half, bowed-out together with Davidzada as Van Leeuwen handed Ronen Hanzis and Guy Mizrahi a chance to impress.

Khalaila broke free on 69 and sent a square ball that narrowly missed Almog at the far post. Van Leeuwen made his final two changes two minutes later as Nadav Nidam and Dor Turgeman came in for Louis Hernandez and Yeini.

While Heerenveen tried desperately to level the score, Maccabi seemed more dangerous on the counter attack as Almog charged forward and sent a cross that Khalaila narrowly missed ten minutes from time.

In the 88^th minute however Maccabi doubled their lead at the end of a move that began with a Ronen Hanzis tackle and a quick pass to Khaliala. Almog once again used his trickery to cut inside and send a shot that was initially blocked by Heerenveen’s keeper only for Turgeman to react first and blast-in the rebound.
Maccabi:Daniel Peretz, Shahar Piven (Maor Kandil 58), Matan Baltaxa (Idan Nachmias 58),Louis Hernandez (Nadav Nidam 71),Ofir Davidzada (Guy Mizrahi 68), Sheran Yeini (Dor Turgeman 71), Ido Shahar (Novatos Miroshi 46), Avi Rikan (Bar Cohen 46), Matan Hozez (Eylon Almog 46),Eduardo Guerrero (Ronen Hanzis 68), Yonatan Cohen (Osama Khalaila 46).