Maccabi’s 24-year-old winger Osher Davida who will aim to lead the club to the Europa League phase for the second season in succession faced the media ahead of Thursday’s return leg against Dynamo Kyiv in Lublin Poland. Davida, who joined Maccabi two seasons ago, won two league titles and reached the Conference League round of 16, set his sights for the season: “I would like to repeat last season and improve it.”

Despite a 3-1 lead from last week’s first leg at the TSC Arena, Davida recalled the 6-1 defeat by Olympiacos which folowed a 4-1 victory in the first leg when he said:

“Absolutely, there aren’t many players left from the side that played Olympiacos, but I remember it well and I’ll remember it for a long time. The mission definitely isn’t complete and I hope no one thinks otherwise. We need to approach it as 0-0 and win the match the way we know how to. We can’t afford to think of anything else. In the previous match, everyone said we should have scored more, but also that we played a good game. Now the focus is on the next match.”

On his personal goals for the season Davida said: “From a team perspective, it is to defend the league title. I think I’ve been here two years now, and we’ve been knocked out of the State Cup in the early rounds, so the target is also to go for the Cup, it hasn’t happened since that final” Davida referred to the State Cup Maccabi won while he was on the losing side witn city rivals Hapoel. “Personally, I want to repeat last season and even improve it. I won’t settle for what was because I want to progress individually.”

“I always look at myself the same way. Maybe I should say, you can be more significant. I’m trying to improve myself,” he added.

Following the departure of several key players and the arrival of several new ones, Maccabi new look side leaves Davida as one of the most experienced members in the dressing room. “A lot has changed. There is a new and good dynamic here, young guys, good ones. I think everyone is taking on more responsibility. Some will take on leadership roles, I hope it will be good, I believe in the group of guys we have”.

Maccabi’e captain Dor Peretz celebrated his 78th European match with two goals as he led Maccabi to a 3-1 victory over Dynamo Kyiv in the first leg of the Europa League Playoff. The 30-year old midfielder said after the match at the TSC Arena in Backa Topola that kicked off 15 minutes late due to a thunder and lightning storm: “It seems the rain served everyone well, along with this result. It was a very good match for us, a great performance. We were very focused, sharp, compact. We can be proud, but there’s still one more mission to complete next week and I hope we will get it done.”

Peretz who has seen some highs and lows in Europe remained grounded as he added: “This is only one half of a two legged tie. We still have a lot of work to do. I am sure that if we show the same ability as today, we will succeed. We were aggressive, compact, and it served us well.”

Preview:

Seven days after beating Hamrun Spartans, Maccabi returned to the TSC Arena in Backa Topola for the first leg of the Europa League Playoff against Dynamo Kyiv.

Maccabi’s 200th match in European competitions will see them face the Ukrainians for the first of a two-legged tie which will ultimately decide who advances to the Europa League phase. Next week, Dynamo Kyiv host Maccabi at the Lublin Arena in Poland for the return leg.

 

Following the transfer of Dor Turgeman to MLS side New England Revolution and the potential departure of Weslley Patati, Maccabi’s coach, Zarko Lazetic, made several changes to his side starting line-up.

Roi Mishpati kept his place in goal with Heitor and Ali Mohamed Camara lining up as the two central defenders in front of him. Tyrese Asante on the right and Roy Revivo on the left completed Maccabi’s defensive back four that would try and contain the Ukrainian side that feature former player Eduardo Guerrero.

The eligibility of new signing, Kristijan Belic, allowed Lazetic to name the Serbian midfielder alongside Issouf Sissokho in Maccabi’s engine room. Dor Peretz, was named at the top of the midfield trio, leading the team out with the captain’s armband on his 78th European match for the club. Osher Davida on one wing and Sagiv Jehezkel on the opposite flank supplied the width to Maccabi’s formation. Elad Madmon who scored two late goals in the campaign so far, spearheaded the attack. On the bench Lazetic named goalkeeper Ofek Melika, Raz Shlomo, Denny Gropper, Yonas Malede, Nemanja Stojic, Noam Ben Harosh, Ben Lederman, Itamar Noy, Saied Abu Farchi, Ido Shahar, Itay Ben Hemo and Ion Nicolaescu

First Half

A thunder and lightning storm forced kickoff to be postponed by 15 minutes, but when the match got underway Maccabi created a great chance inside the opening minute. Sagiv Jehezkel slipped the ball into the path of Dor Peretz who found himself behind Dynamo Kyiv’s defense. But the Maccabi skipper couldn’t gain control of the ball, and the chance was missed. Maccabi continued to dominate as Issouf Sissokho fed Jehezkel down the left, only to see his cross blocked allowing goalkeeper Ruslan Neshcheret to collect.

In the 8th minute Kristijan Belic dispossessed a Kyiv opponent deep inside the visitors’ territory before picking Dor Peretz whose powerful shot was blocked by the advancing keeper. Four minutes later, Maccabi were rewarded for their efforts with Jehezkel and Peretz combining well for the opener. Jehezkel picked Peretz’s run into the box before the Maccabi captain drilled the ball home past Neshcheret to score his first of the season. The Kyiv keeper denied Davida in the 17th minute as two minutes later he was also kept busy this time by a dangerous Madmon shot on 19. Two minutes later, Neshcheret could do nothing against a Davida curling left foot shot that sailed past him but rattled the post.

A last gasp Tyrese Asante tackle on the edge of the area managed to block an Andryi Yarmolenko left foot drive after a confusion between Ali Camara and Peretz gifted Kyiv the ball just inside Maccabi’s half. Right on the half hour mark Vladyslav Vanat created the time and space inside the box but saw his effort roll across the face of Roi Mishpati’s goal and wide of the target. A minute later, the visitors were back on level terms. Vanat carved Maccabi’s defense open with a through ball to Nazar Voloshyn whose shot went in off the post to beat Mishpati. Roy Revivo who looked lively down Maccabi’s left flank drilled a left foot shot from the edge of the area which Neshcheret could only palm over his crossbar on 41. The halftime whistle sent both teams to try and dry out in the dressing rooms

Second half

With no changes after the interval the two sides returned to the pitch for the second half as the heavy rain didn’t stop pouring. Three minutes after the restart Jehezkel remained on the ground following a rough tackle by Kostiantyn Vivcharenko which went unpunished by referee Giorgi Kruashvili. Davida lost possession on the edge of Kyiv’s area before Issouf Sissokho was cautioned for a foul on Voloshyn. The referee was called to the VAR to review the tackle on Jehezkel and after watching the replays on the screen showed Vivcharenko the red card. Maccabi took advantage of the numerical advantage eight minutes later as Belic sent a perfect square pass across the face of goal allowing Jehezkel to sweep the ball home and restore Maccabi’s lead. Jehezkel had a powerful shot saved by Neshcheret on 61 before Belic was booked for a mistimed tackle on a Kyiv player. Lazetic made two changes in the 66th minute as Belic and Elad Madmon came off to a standing ovation by the 100 Maccabi fans as they were replaced by Ido Shahar and Ion Nicolaescu.

Three minutes later Maccabi increased their lead as with Revivo found Peretz in the middle if the Kyiv penalty area. Maccabi’s captain shrugged off a challenge by a Kyiv defender before firing in his second of the night to make it 3-1 on 69. In the 78th minute Davida raced half the length of the pitch to carry a counterattack before feeding Jehezkel whose shot sailed wide of the post. Two minutes later Mispahti got a hand to turn Eduardo Guerrero’s powerful shot over the crossbar. Lazetic made another change as Jehezkel bowed out and was replaced by Saied Abu Farchi who came on for the final seven minutes. Lazetic made his two final substitutions on the night as Nemanja Stojic and Itamar Noy replaced both Ali Camara and Sissokho in the 90th minute. The full-time whistle ended the first half of the tie as the two sides will meet in Lublin next week where it will be decided who advances to the Europa League Phase and who will play in the Conference League.

Maccabi’s forthcoming Europa League Playoff first leg against Dynamo Kyiv will be the club’s 200^th match in European competition – the most among Israeli clubs.

Maccabi featured in Europe in a total of 26 seasons so far, including over the past 13 season in succession.

Maccabi’s first European match, a 2-1 victory over Malta’s Valletta FC was played 33 years ago on August 19^th 1992.

The most recent match on August 14^th was also against a Maltese opposition – a Europa League 3^rd qualifying return leg 3-1 victory over Hamrun Spartans.

Maccabi’s overall record in 199 matches currently stands on 87 victories, 42 draws and 70 defeats.

No less than 20 coaches guided Maccabi in the various European competitions over the years.

Thursday’s Playoff first leg against Dynamo Kiev will be the 19^th European match of Maccabi’s Head Coach, Zarko Lazetic, in Europe. The 43-year-old Serbian will become the coach who guided Maccabi in the most European matches surpassing fellow countryman Vladimir Ivic and Nir Klinger who are both on 18 matches each.

A total of 238 players represented Maccabi in the various European competitions. Sheran Yeini made the most appearances in Europe for Maccabi featuring in 84 matches, with Maccabi’s current captain, Dor Peretz, second on the appearance chart with 77, three more than Eytan Tibi who made 74 European appearances.

Ninety different players scored for Maccabi in European competitions with Eran Zahavi leading the goalscoring charts with 30. Dor Perez who took-over the captaincy from Zahavi is second with 14 goals, one more than Eliran who has 13 goals to his name.

Out of 17 seasons since the Playoff phase was introduced in the 2009/10 campaign, the two-legged tie against Dynamo Kyiv will be Maccabi’s 14th appearance in a European playoff round.

Eran Zahavi, once again is Maccabi’s leading scorer with 7 goals in a European playoff.

Sheran Yeini appeared in 15 playoff matches and is also Maccabi’s appearance record-holder at this stage, out of the 104 players who featured in playoff matches.

Maccabi has faced Dynamo Kyiv in European competitions 4 times.

A 1-1 draw at Bloomfield followed by a 3-3 in the return leg in Kyiv during the 2011/12 Europa League group stage.

Both clubs faced each other in the 2015/16 Champions League group stages with Dynamo Kyiv winning both matches 1-0 at Sammy Ofer and 2-0 at the Olimpiisky stadium.