Maccabi Tel Aviv’s first training camp will come to an end on Sunday but unlike in year’s past, the Yellow & Blue will hold a second camp in Holland between July 7-15. As part of the preparations for this coming season, Vladimir Ivic’s squad will play three pre-season friendlies:

July 9: Maccabi Tel Aviv – Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
The Yellow & Blue’s first friendly will be against a club from the Belgium Second Division in Royale Union Saint-Gilloise who finished last season in third place.

July 11: Maccabi Tel Aviv – Genk
The second match will pit the Israeli champions against the Belgium title holders who won the league by just two points over Club Brugge. Genk is also preparing for the new campaign as they will be playing in the group stages of the Champions League.

July 14: Maccabi Tel Aviv – Sparta Rotterdam
The final friendly will see Maccabi take on Dutch side Sparta Rotterdam who were promoted to Holland’s first division after winning the second division playoff.

Just a little while after playing the friendlies, the season will officially begin as the Yellow & Blue will play Bnei Yehuda in the Champions Cup on July 20th for the first title of the campaign. Next up will be the first leg of second round Champions League qualifying (July 23 or 24) where they will face the winner of Astana and Cluj.

Maccabi Tel Aviv held their first friendly of the campaign as the Champion defeated Global Sport Academy 5:0. Head Coach Vladimir Ivic summed up the match:

After nine days of training camp in Horst, Holland, Maccabi Tel Aviv Head their first friendly of the season as Vladimir Ivic’s squad defeated Global Sport Academy in their first test of of the 2019/20 campaign.

Starting XI: Daniel Peretz (Omer Kats, 46’), Dan Glezer (Noam Cohen, 46’), Jair Amador (Sheran Yeini, 46’), Shahar Piven (Matan Baltaxa, 46’), Ophir Davidzada (Bar Cohen, 67’), Nadav Nidam, Eden Kartzev (Dor Peretz, 46’), Avi Rikan (Ruskin Barsky, 46’), Yonatan Cohen (Eylon Almog, 46’), Matan Hozez (Chico Ofoedu, 46’), Itay Shechter (Eliran Atar, 46’).

First Half
Despite playing in 36 degree heat, Maccabi opened up the match well as it looked as if the Yellow & Blue took the lead in the 5’ but Yonatan Cohen’s goal was disallowed when Davidzada’s pass was called to be offside. However, in the 10’ Maccabi grabbed a 1:0 lead as Shechter stole the ball, made his way into the box and scored with his left foot. In the 20’ Cohen curled a free kick from 25 meters that just went over the goal.

Three minutes later Hozez and Shechter each had chances in the box but were blocked by the defense and in the 28’ Global’s opportunity hit Amador and was taken care of by the Maccabi keeper Peretz. In the 33’ the Yellow & Blue doubled their advantage when Rikan sent a beauty of the through ball to Cohen on the left side who in turn crossed it to Kartzev who found the back of the goal for a 2:0 lead.

Second Half
Ivic made wholesale changes to the lineup and Ofoedu took full advantage of entering the contest when he scored in the 52’ thanks to an Atar pass and added his second goal juts four minutes later on a give and go with Dor Peretz for a 4:0 Maccabi lead.

In the 59’ Barsky added his name to the goal scoring list as he took care of a Ofoedu steal to give the Yellow & Blue a 5:0 advantage. Yeini sent a through ball to Atar but his shot hit the post and in the 75’ Atar’s free kick just went over the goal. Ten minutes later Ofoedu’s pressure forced a turnover that Atar sent off the post once again as Ivic’s squad wrapped up the 5:0 win.

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Training Camp in Horst Holland entered the 8th day, just two days before the squad returns to Israel. During the morning session the players had a mini match and Dor Peretz scored the winner.

This evening, Vladimir Ivic’s players will have an additional session followed by the traditional Friday night Kiddush, the second they’ve held in Holland.

Check out the photos:

After wearing the Israel National Team kit against Latvia and Poland, Dor Peretz joined his teammates at their training camp in Horst, Holland. On Wednesday, the Champion entered their 6th day of the camp and held a morning session as Peretz spoke about what he and his teammates have been experiencing since their arrival in Holland:

“It was a good break to rest, relax and come back with renewed energy as we look ahead to the new season.”

Training hard:
“This is only my second day in camp and I can say that the sessions aren’t easy and we are working very hard ahead of the new season, but this is just the beginning.”

The new kits:
The training kits are great and the match kits look fantastic. I can’t wait to play in them.”

Photos from this morning’s training session:

Maccabi Tel Aviv continued their preparations or the 2019/20 season at their training camp in Horst, Holland. On Tuesday, the 5th day of the camp, the club held a morning session as Dor Peretz, Dan Glezer and Yonatan Cohen joined Vladimir Ivic’s squad. The trio had a few more vacation days after representing Israel during the Euro qualifying campaign against Latvia and Poland.