Maccabi Tel Aviv visits Maccabi Netanya on Sunday April 7th at 20:30 on Matchday 29 of the Israel Premier League Ligat Japanika. Tickets are on sale now via the Leaan Ticket Agency Website, telephone *8780 and the Leaan Ticket Office located at Frishman 42, Tel Aviv.

Maccabi fans will be sitting in the Upper West Sections 201-204.

Please Note: This match is part of the Points Allocation System and season ticket holders will receive 2 points for this contest while non-season ticket holders will receive 1 point. Make sure that when tickets are purchased via the Leaan Website, telephone or Leaan Ticket Office the season ticket number is used in order to receive full points. Should the purchase not be done by using the season ticket number points will not be allocated.

Should a ticket be purchased and the fan doesn’t attend the match, there will be no refunds and no points will be allocated.

Ticket prices
Leaan Ticket Office: 66 NIS

Telephone/Website: 71 NIS

Ticket Collection
Tickets may be collected at the Leaan Ticket Office located at 101 Dizengoff Street between Sunday-Thursday 09:00-19:00, Friday 09:00-13:30.
Tickets may be collected on Matchday at the Stadium ticket windows beginning 3 hours prior to the match

Sheran Yeini, the Maccabi Tel Aviv captain looked back a his side’s 1:0 loss to Bnei Yehuda in the State Cup semifinal:

“The championship win played no part of the loss. It had no influence. We are disappointed as we want to win as many titles as possible for the club. You don’t always get to the final of the Cup and I only have been in two. So I also want to win more trophies.”

Taking advantage of opportunities:
“They closed us out well and we weren’t able to take advantage of our control and get enough good chances.

Goals ahead:
“We still want to reach a number of goals that we have including not losing in the league and collect the most points. We have plenty to go for.”

That’s football:
“We have a great team with a lot of quality and I’m proud of them. We had a good final quarter hour and pressed them a lot and had a number of good chances. But that’s football.”

Continuing on:
“What we did this season was great and we want to continue that way.”

Vladmir Ivic, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach summed up his side’s 1:0 loss to Bnei Yehuda as they were eliminated from the State Cup:

“Many things in this game didn’t go our way. They had one shot in the second half, we lost focus and didn’t defend the player at the top of the box properly and we paid a price for that. We had chances after that but the better team doesn’t always win.”

About the defeat:
“This is football and it’s something normal. That is the life of the footballer and coach. We lost and it was a Cup game. We have to continue to work hard and end finish the season properly.”

Having won the league title a few days ago:
“I don’t think that winning the championship had any influence and it’s normal that after a few years having not won the title that we would celebrate only in the stadium. We prepared properly for this match and these things happen. We have to continue to play rest of the league games as best as possible.”

Disappointed:
“Right now we are disappointed. When you’re not in a final it’s disappointing and that was one of our goals which we didn’t reach. Our next match is already on Sunday.”

The league going forward:
“We have 8 games until the end of the season. Some of the players who haven’t played a lot will get a chance.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv were eliminated from Israel State Cup play falling to Bnei Yehuda 1:0 at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. The Yellow & Blue controlled the pace of play and had many chances but couldn’t find the back of the goal as a Yuval Ashkenazi 25’ strike in the 77’ was the difference maker.

Head Coach Vladimir Ivic’s Starting XI included keeper Predrag Rajkovic, Eli Dasa, Sheran Yeini, Shahar Piven, Enric Saborit, Dor Peretz, Dan Glezer, Avi Rikan, Yonatan Cohen, Omer Atzili, Itay Shechter.

Available on the bench: Daniel Tenenbaum, Jair Amador, Eliran Atar, Eitan Tibi, Aron Schoenfeld, Ophir Davidzada, Maor Kandil.

First Half
Maccabi came out flying early as Cohen’s 2’ free kick from the left of the box was headed out by Yeini and two minutes later Rikan tried to send Shechter a through ball but he just missed the intended destination. Atzili’s 7’ long distance scorcher went over the bar and in the 10’ Peretz took the ball by himself 20 meters up the pitch and unleashed a screamer that was parried for a corner kick.

The Yellow & Blue came very close on the corner when Atzili sent the ball to Glezer but his attempt just came up short and ten minutes later Atzili’s chance was saved by Bnei Yehuda keeper Emilias Zubas. Peretz’s 25 meter blast went over the goal and ten minutes later Shay Konstantin’s shot was taken care of by Rajkovic.

Tchibota almost gave Bnei Yehuda the lead a minute later but Rajko was again up to the task. In the 40’ Shahar Piven was issued a yellow card and so was Dan Glezer in the 44’ as the match went into the break goalless.

Second Half
Atzili had a chance to score to begin the half as he went in on Zubas but the shot stopper once again came up big to stymie the Yellow & Blue. Yuval Ashkenazi’s opportunity was caught by Rajkovic in the 58’ and Rikan came close to scoring in the 66’ from 20 meters but his attempt just missed the target.

In the 72’ Ivic made a pair of substitutions as he brought on Eliran Atar and Aron Schoenfeld in favor of Atzili and Shechter. But in the 77’ Bnei Yehuda struck first off a 25’ meter blast by Ashkenazi as he beat the Maccabi keeper to take a 1:0 lead.

Maor Kandil was introduced for Dasa in the 87’ and a minute later Cohen just missed out on drawing even as Maccabi fell to Bnei Yehuda.

The State Cup semifinal round is being held for the 82nd time this week. To date, Maccabi has appeared in 47 semifinals and advanced to the finals 36 times.

If we look in the recent past, out of the last 14 semifinals that Maccabi has played in only once against Ramat Gan in 2003 have they not advanced to the final.

This will be the first time Maccabi will face Bnei Yehuda in the semifinals. The most teams the Yellow & Blue have faced are Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Petah Tikva – 6 times each.

In the video: The goals on the way to the semifinals

Maccabi’s biggest semifinal win was 80 years ago in 1929 when they defeated Maccabi Zichron Yakov 9:2. Since the founding of the State the biggest win was 7:1 over Hapoel Petah Tikva in 1952.

The Maccabi all-time semifinal goal scoring leader: Rafi Levi with 5 goals in a 6:0 win over Shimshon in 1958.

Maccabi has gone to penalties 6 times in the semifinals and out of those they advanced to the final 4 times.

Miko Belo is the Maccabi all-time appearance leader with 12 in the semifinals.

Maccabi has faced Bnei Yehuda 6 times in the Cup competition and won 5 of them including once in the quarterfinals on penalties in 1971. The only loss came two years ago in the final when they fell in penalties after playing to a 0:0 draw after 120 minutes.

The goal differential between the two clubs is 11:1 in favor of Maccabi.

The biggest win over Bnei Yehuda in the State Cup was also the first official match between the two sides (Bnei Yehuda played in the 2nd and 3rd division in the 1950’s). The contest took place in 1955 in the Round of 16 and Maccabi won 6:0. Goal scorers: Shmuel Israeli x3, Sheya Glazer x2, Avraham Turika.

Maccabi has played a State Cup match only twice during the same week in which they won the league championship and both times the Yellow & Blue went on to win the Cup. In 2015 when they defeated Hapoel Beer Sheva 6:2 and in 1977 when they beat Beitar Tel Aviv 1:0.

The Maccabi Tel Aviv Foundation once again will help those in need ahead of the Passover Holiday with a project to help raise funds that will begin this week and end the day before the holiday begins. We want to work hand in hand, together with you the fans with all of our strength to make sure that everyone benefits. On the donation page you’ll be able to see what special benefits there are in return for your contribution.

Do you want a new hat or scarf? A signed jersey from the players? A meet and greet with CEO Ben Mansford? Or maybe a training session with the two Maccabi Foundation coaches Omer Atzili and Eliran Atar?

You can find all of that and more by clicking on the link below which will take you to the project page: https://giveback.co.il/project/50951

We need to reach our goal and even surpass it in order to help as many needy people as possible.

When we pack the food boxes and deliver them to those in need our heart will be filled with pride and joy. Happiness with the knowledge that we can help others and those in need and pride because all the packages are created by our power as one family that represents the Yellow & Blue symbol and the values of the club and what it means to be Maccabi.

You are our strength. Together we are their power.

About the match

• Just four days after capturing the league title, Maccabi Tel Aviv will look to advance to the State Cup Finals but in order to get there they must face Bnei Yehuda in the semifinals at Teddy Stadium.
• Head Coach Vladimir Ivic already had his players back at training immediately following the championship game and made sure that they made the switch as they prepare in earnest for a tough contest versus Bnei Yehuda
• There will be a number of players who will be unavailable for the match including Eyal Golasa, Dor Micha and Uros Nikolic who are all injured. Avi Rikan will be back after missing the Haifa match due to yellow card accumulation.
• Bnei Yehuda comes into the match having won only once in their last five contests with the victory coming over Maccabi Haifa in the first Championship Playoff game. This past weekend Yossi Abuksis and his squad drew against Maccabi Netanya.
• To get to the semifinals Bnei Yehuda defeated Beitar Nordia in the Round of 32 (3:1), Nazareth Elite in the Round of 16 (2:0) and Hapoel Afula in the two legged quarterfinal (3:1).

Did you know?

• In their past 14 semifinals, only once did Maccabi not advance to the final (2003 vs Ramat Gan).
• The last time Maccabi faced Bnei Yehuda in State Cup action was in the 2016/17 final which the Yellow & Blue lost on penalties.
• Yonatan Cohen and Maor Kandil were in the Bnei Yehuda squad in that match and lifted the Cup at Teddy Stadium.
• The last time Maccabi played the semifinal at Teddy Stadium was against Maccabi Ahi Nazareth where they won 3:0.
• Maccabi has won the league championship and played in the State Cup competition only twice in the same week. Both times they also won the Cup.

Photos from the final training session