The Israel Football Association on Thursday ordered a week’s delay in the start of the TASE Premier League playoff phase because of corona virus following instructions by the Health Ministry to limit spectators at fixtures scheduled for this weekend. They are now scheduled to begin on March 14. 

The current Health Ministry stipulation forbids gatherings of over 5,000 people at public events but as each of the upper playoff rounds are expecting to attract attendances of around 25,000, the clubs and the IFA are hoping that the additional time will allow them to mitigate the situation.

The Israel Professional Football League administration has been charged with presenting a plan to the authorities that it hopes will allow the large stadiums to accommodate a far greater number of fans.

Maccabi’s revised schedule follows but the exact dates are still to be set:

Round 27, March 14-16: Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Hapoel Haifa, Bloomfield

Round 28, April 4-6: Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Maccabi Haifa, Bloomfield

Round 29, April 11-13: Beitar Jerusalem v. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Teddy Stadium

Round 30, April 18-19: Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Hapoel Beersheba, Bloomfield

Round 31, April 21-22: Hapoel Tel Aviv v. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bloomfield

Round 32, April 25-26: Hapoel Haifa v. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Sammy Ofer

Round 33, May 2-4: Maccabi Haifa v. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Sammy Ofer

Round 34, May 9-11: Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Beitar Jerusalem, Bloomfield

Round 35, May 16-18: Hapoel Beersheba v. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Turner Stadium

Round 36, May 23-15: Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Hapoel Tel Aviv, Bloomfield

Maccabi Tel Aviv is happy to introduce our YouTube channel and it is certain to put a smile on your faces as presenter Shachar Malki poses various challenges for club players.

You can watch by signing up to Maccabi’s official YouTube channel. You will receive alerts when a new episode has been posted.

To kick us off, here is Shachar with Enric Saborit and Andre Geraldes.

The TASE Premier League playoff phase will begin on Saturday with six teams involved in the tussle for the championship title in 10 final fixtures of the season.

Maccabi Haifa, Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Beersheba, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Haifa are the teams involved in the upper playoff phase against Maccabi Tel Aviv and you can secure your place in the stadium for the final rounds of action in the 2019-2020 season.

Maccabi Tel Aviv has launched a special offer for tickets in which starting on Sunday, March 1 at 18:00, you can purchase a pack of tickets to the final five home games of the season. But don’t waste any time because the number of tickets on offer is limited.

Click here for the fixtures list and tentative dates.

We do not expect to put single tickets on sale beyond the upcoming match against Hapoel Haifa on Saturday (March 7).

Notes:

Ticket purchasers will receive their tickets by e-mail for home printing.

The tickets cannot be exchanged for entry to other fixtures.

The tickets for some of the matches may not have the name of the opponents printed, as the final position in the standings will only be set later on Sunday night following the completion of the regular season fixtures.

The 2019-2020 regular season has come to an end and before the hectic and thrilling playoff phase begins, this is the time to sum up the two phases of home and away matches which has seen Maccabi Tel Aviv remain unbeaten at the top of the standings, six points ahead of closest challengers, Maccabi Haifa.

Maccabi have amassed 19 wins and seven draws in their 26 regular season fixtures and their total of 64 points translates to an 82 percent success rate. This has been bettered only twice before, in the 2019 and 2014 seasons, when they amassed 66 points after 26 matches.

With the achievement, Maccabi have become the fifth club to end the regular season without defeat and they are the first team ever to do it two seasons running.

After yesterday, when Liverpool were stunned 3-0 by Watford, Maccabi remain the only unbeaten team in any European league this season.

Twelve Maccabi players have scored this season and Yonatan Cohen heads the list as the most prolific with 10 goals and 10 assists.

Maccabi have also ended 21 out of their 26 games with a clean sheet, which equals their own record from last season. The record is shared with Kiryat Shmona who also reached the mark in 2011-12.

While last season Maccabi needed the playoff rounds to reach their unbeaten mark, this time there is a good chance to better that mark, as the record has been reached with the playoffs still ahead.

Maccabi have led the league in 22 out of the 26 rounds so far this season. Their longest winning run stretched for six matches, between rounds seven and 12, and all those victories were achieved without conceding a goal, another all-time club record.

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 1-0 win over Maccabi Netanya on Saturday completed the regular season without a defeat for the defending league champions. The playoff phase that will determine the champions will now involve the top six finishers, while the bottom eight will play to avoid relegation.

Maccabi have confirmed their position at the top of the standings and are nine points ahead of second-placed Maccabi Haifa, although they can reduce the gap back to six points if they beat Hapoel Beersheba in their final regular season fixture on Sunday.

The tentative dates for Maccabi’s fixtures is as follows. Some tweaks to the schedule are still possible, however.

 

Round 27, March 7: Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Hapoel Haifa, Bloomfield

Round 28, March 14: Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Maccabi Haifa, Bloomfield

Round 29, April 4: Beitar Jerusalem/ Hapoel Beersheba v. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Teddy / Turner Stadium

Round 30, April 11: Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Hapoel Beersheba/Beitar Jerusalem, Bloomfield

Round 31, April 18: Hapoel Tel Aviv v. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bloomfield

Round 32, April 25: Hapoel Haifa v. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Sammy Ofer

Round 33, May 2: Maccabi Haifa v. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Sammy Ofer

Round 34, May 9: Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Beitar Jerusalem/Hapoel Beersheba, Bloomfield

Round 35, May 16: Hapoel Beersheba/Beitar Jerusalem v. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Turner / Teddy Stadium

Round 36, May 23: Maccabi Tel Aviv v. Hapoel Tel Aviv, Bloomfield

Eylon Almog, who scored the only goal in Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 1-0 away win over Maccabi Netanya, told reporters after Saturday’s game that although winning the points was the most important thing, in a long season, sometimes the performances are not always what they should be.

“As the coach said, this was not one of our better games, but in a long season these things do happen. We won by the skin of our teeth but I’m happy that we managed to take the three points,” Almog said.

“It was disappointing for us to play this way but the coach will analyse the game with us and will explain what we need to do to improve.”

“It’s always great to score early in the game and we wanted to continue the momentum and score more, but that didn’t happen. At least we took the points,” Almog added.

He said he had decided to hang on and stay at Maccabi despite a good offer from Beitar Jerusalem last season. “I’m very happy that I stayed here, my home club,” he said.

Maccabi Tel Aviv registered yet another win on Saturday as they beat Maccabi Netanya 1-0 in the final regular season fixture before the playoffs.

The league leaders have opened up a nine-point gap at the top of the standings ahead of second-placed Maccabi Haifa, who host Hapoel Beersheba on Sunday, but the performance in Netanya was one of the defending champions’ worst of the season, according to coach Vladimir Ivic.

“This was the worst game we have had,” Ivic said after the final whistle. “We can only take the points from this game because for most of the time we did not show the Maccabi spirit. We were poor in possession and were not good in trying to win the ball. We will have to be professional as we look ahead.”

Ivic said the game, in general, was not good although he said it was difficult to immediately analyse what went wrong.

“I will talk to my players later because if we continue in this vein it will not be good,” he added.