Two years after that penalty against Sarpsborg in the Europa League Playoff, Eitan Tibi came full circle tonight (Wednesday). The 32-year-old central defender played an integral part in the Champions League 3rd qualifying round 1-0 victory over Dynamo Brest which secured a Europa League berth in the event of elimination against Red Bull Saltzburg.

“What happened in that match wasn’t easy for me” Tibi said, “This was coming full circle for me and a very happy one. I am delighted to have secured a European berth with Maccabi. Let me tell you another thing. My late dad attended that game and it was his penultimate match so I said today that ‘no matter what, i must do absolutely everything in order to advance through. I am delighted, as i achieved this small victory. We achieved it”.

Ahead of the two legged tie against Saltzburg, Tibi added: “There are matches that you can afford not to look too good but t ok give everything you have got. They are clearly an excellent side. We fully believe in our ability. I have no doubt we could do it. We will have to show much better form. Chances like we created today, we will have to score”.

Itay Shechter added: “Qualification to the Group stages is something the club hasn’t done for a while. This is something which is very important for Israeli football. After winning two League titles it was important for us players as well as the Club to show that we belong to the European circuit. We are happy and delighted now but in less than a week we are awaiting another massive war”

A two legged tie against Red Bull Salzburg with the home tie staged at Bloomfield next week followed by the return leg in Austria the following week now stands between Maccabi and a third qualification to Europe’s biggest stage. Regardless of the result against the Austrians’, the victory over Brest secured Maccabi a place in the Europa League group stages.

First Half

Four minutes from the start Maccabi came close to break the deadlock as Itay Shechter exchanged passes with Sheran Yeini to carve the Brest defense open. But with only the keeper to beat flashed his shot across the face of goal. Two minutes later Eyal Golasa received a perfect cut-back from Maor Kandil which only to see his shot from the penalty spot fly over the crossbar.

In the 18th minute Dor Peretz blasted a shot which was pished out for a corner by Sergei Iganotovich. Two minutes later, Eitan Tibi rose high to clear the danger and prevent a dangerous Kirill Pechenin cross from reaching Abdoulaye Diallo.

Second Half

Five minutes after the restart Maccabi were rewarded Peretz was brought down in the area and Italian referee Davide Massa pointed at the penalty spot. Dan Biton stepped up and successfully converted the spot kick to give Maccabi a well deserved lead.

On 56 Donis made his first change as Nick Blackman came in for the tired Shechter. Right on the hour mark Peretz forced Ignatovich to dive and save his shot from the edge of the area.

Avi Rikan came in for Golasa on 64 as Donis felt he needed a fresh pair of legs in midfield as well. Daniel Tenenbaum was seriously tested for the first time as he charged off his goal to dive at the feet of Diallo who broke clear through.

Saborit could have doubled the score on 72 as he rose unmarked to head Biton’s corner but failed to guide it on target. Two minutes later the best chance of the game saw Kandil carve the Brest defense open as he broke into the box from the right.

Kandil’s cross beat the keeper and with the goal at his mercy from 2 meters out Davidzada somehow miscued his shot over the bar. Blackman tested the keeper with a powerful left foot drive and minutes later struggled to connect onto a cross which could have sealed the victory. Yonatan Cohen replaced Biton for the final 9 minutes but it was a Saborit’s last gasp header which denied Diallo from heading in an equaliser.

The referee added five minutes which didn’t add to the nerves of everyone present but his final whistle kicked off the celebrations on the pitch.

Having advanced past Riga and Suduva Maccabi faces its next hurdle (Wednesday, 20:00) in Europe. Dynamo Brest travel to Tel Aviv for a Champions League third qualifying round, just before they arrive this is the time to get to know them in detail.

Dynamo Brest reach this season as the champions of Belarus after completing what seemed to be impossible by winning the league title for the first time in their history, thus ending a 13-year-long reign of Bate Borisov.

How do they currently fair in the  league?

Just like Maccabi’s previous opponents Riga and Suduva, the Belarussian side are in the middle of their domestic season. Brest played 21 league matches so far but are currently ranked 9th in the table with 10 wins, 2 draws and 9 defeats as well as two matches on hand. They travel to Israel on the back of a dramatic 4-2 victory over Dynamo Minsk at the weekend with the score tied at 2-2 until the 89^th minute.

In Europe however, the Belarussians advanced to the third round at the expense of Kazakhstan champions Astana (6-3) and Sarajevo of Bosnia (2-1). Last season they were eliminated in the Europa League third qualifying round by Cypriot outfit Apollon Limassol.

Dynamo Kiev former players

The squad of Brest consists mostly of Belarussian players, but the two leading names on their roster are actually Ukrainian. Artem Milvskiy, who made his name at Dynamo Kiev between 2002-2013 and Ukraine for which he made 50 international appearances, returned for a second spell at Brest, as the 35 year-old towering striker played for the Belarus side in the 2017-18 season.

At the back plays 33-year-old Yevhen Khacheridi who made 51 appearances for the Ukrainian national team and 150 appearances for Kiev between 2008-2018 joined Brest last season from PAOK.

Senegalese striker Abdoulaye Diallo is another threat upfront as the in form 24-year-old scored twice against Astana, added a goal against Sarajevo and completed a hattrick against Minsk at the weekend.

The counterpart of Georgios Donis will be 46-year-old Sergey Kovalchuk, a former Belarussian player who spent most of his playing at various clubs in Brest. In 1996 he joined Dinamo where he played until his retirement in 2004 when he took up several coaching positions. He was appointed as Head Coach at the start of the 2020/21 season.

Maccabi Tel Aviv will try and take another big step towards potential qualification to the Champions League Group stage. The Israeli champions host their Belarussian counterparts Dynamo Brest at Bloomfield stadium (Wednesday, 20:00) for a one-off knockout match as part of the third qualifying round.

This match, is one stage before the Playoff as the winner will face Austrian Champions Red Bull Salzburg for a two-legged tie. A victory over Brest will not just see Maccabi advance to the Playoffs but also secure a place in the Europa League group stages.

Georgios Donis’ charges reached this stage after knocking out Latvian side FC Riga (2-0) and Suduva (3-0) in the earlier stages. While Maccabi were held to a dramatic 2-2 draw against Bnei Yehuda at the weekend, Brest, that advanced past Astana of Kazakhstan (6-3) and Bosnian outfit Sarajevo – recorded a dramatic 4-2 league win at the weekend over Dynamo Minsk. The Belarus champions are struggling to emulate their achievements last season as they are currently ranked 9^th in the table after 21 matches.

So far Maccabi played against 63 opponents from 37 countries, and Brest will be the face European opponent from Belarus.

In four two-legged ties against opponents from Belarus, the Israeli clubs won 3, drawn 3 and lost 2.

This is the 27^th time an Israeli side tries reaching the Champions League group stage as 5 clubs managed to do so until now: Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa (twice), Hapoel Tel Aviv (once).

Maccabi kept two clean sheets from their first two qualifying matches, one match short of their European campaigns in 2002/03 and 2004/05.

Sixty one players scored for Maccabi in European competitions. Eran Zahavi is leading the goal-scoring charts with 15 goals, while Tal Ben Chaim from the current squad has 7 goals to his name.

“Last season we had an excellent domestic season, but in Europe we didn’t do so well. There are no rules in football. We are not phased by all this. We are experienced at these levels. There are many players here who were at these crucial stages as well as many national team players. We do take the important points. A psychologically smart team knows how to hit the ground after victories, and also knows how to pick itself up following defeats. The influence of the previous game in our professional terms is irrelevant”.
“At Maccabi we are expected to win every match” the captain added, “We have learned to live with this. It is not easy but at the same time this is something which takes a lot from us, and the best things as well”.

 

“It is a feeling of a missed opportunity”, the right back said after the game, “We want to win every game, we certainly didn’t plan to open the season this way. We have a very important match on Wedbesday, the league had 34 more rounds still to play and we will try and force a positive momentum on Wednesday which will reflect on the league. The season is long and the change can be made, we are professionals and there are less pleasant moments in football, we can’t celebrate all the time”.