Jordi Cruyff, the Yellow & Blue Head Coach summed up his side’s 3:0 loss to Maccabi Haifa in Israel State Cup Round of 16 action as the club was eliminated from Cup play:

“You’re always disappointed when you lose the chance to win a tittle. Haifa played a good game, the first half was even, but you felt that whoever would score the first goal would have a chance to counter attack. It’s a wake up call and if we go down just 1% we will lose.”

Changes in the Starting XI:
“I made 4 changes to the lineup which is almost 40% so there were changes. Babin and Blackman didn’t play last match and Rikan and Dasa only 20 minutes.”

Eli Dasa’s injury:
“He has been in good form the last month and it’s bad to lose players especially a guy that has been so good recently. He only played 20 minutes last match and Dasa was super fresh, that’s why he played. I hope it’s minor but we will see.”

About the match:
“We stopped to play football from behind and with courage. We gave them confidence. They played good and with the 1:0 they were confident. We were sloppy and lost the ball which is what we don’t usually do. It gets dangerous out there and the fans get confidence as well.”

The Vidar incident in the box late in the match:
“Better I look at myself and my team and the mistakes we made as we go back into the league. I felt it was a bit unnecessary but to send off someone from the bench is a bit exaggerated.”

The Yellow & Blue were knocked out of the Israel State Cup competition in the Round of 16 after falling to Maccabi Haifa 3:0. Roie Kehat, Sintayehu Sallalich and Nikita Rukavytsya all scored in the second half for the host’s as Maccabi will now turn their attention to the Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al and Bnei Yehuda on Matchday 20 this coming Sunday evening at the Moshava Stadium.

Jordi Cruyff’s Starting XI included keeper Predrag Rajikovic, Eli Dasa, Jean-Sylvain Babin, Eitan Tibi, Sheran Yeini (C), Eyal Golasa, Dor Peretz, Dor Micha, Nick Blackman, Avi Rikan and Vidar Kjartansson.

Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Tal Ben Haim, Barak Itzhaki, Aaron Schoenfeld, Ofir Davidzada, Cristian Battocchio, Eliran Atar.

First Half
Rikan tested Haifa keeper Omri Glazer from 25 meters out in the 2’ but the Green’s shot stopper was up to the task early on. Sintayehu Sallalich tried to slice his way through the Maccabi midfield but Captain Sheran Yeini stopped him cold in his tracks and cleared the ball to safety in the 9’. Gal Alberman launched a laser beam towards Rajikovic that the shot stopper was able to tip away at the last second in the 14’ while the ensuing corner was headed by Omri Ben Harush but his attempt went over the bar as Haifa looked to find the first marker of the match.

Maccabi began heating up in the driving rain in the 25’ but Kjartansson and Rikan’s attempts in the box were blocked by Haifa, while Dasa lifted a ball to Vidar in the box but the Icelander’s header was just off the mark a minute later. In the 31’ Roie Kehat was about to slot the ball behind Rajikovic but Peretz came in to push it away to safety and one minute later Mabouka crossed the ball into the box off the right wing to Klaus but the striker’s chance missed wide right.

In the 34’ Golasa tried his luck from 25 meters away but the ball missed the target while Blackman’s attempt five minutes later flew over the goal. Ofir Davidzada entered the match in the 42’ due to an injury to Dasa as the half ended 0:0.

Second Half
Maccabi looked to break the deadlock as Peretz put the ball over the Haifa goal in the 48’ after Micha had done some fancy footwork against Ben Harush. Micha crossed the ball into the box from the right in the 52’ but just before Vidar could get to it, Glazer made the grab. However, it would be Haifa who would take the lead in the 54’ as Roie Kehat pounced on a rebound which he put behind Rajikovic for a 1:0 advantage.

Haifa added another goal just 4 minutes later when they took control of the ball at midfield which sent Nikita Rukavytsya and Sintayehu Sallalich on a break towards the Maccabi goal as the latter scored for a 2:0 lead. Cruyff made his second substitution of the evening when he inserted Barak Itzhaki for Rikan as Maccabi looked for their first goal of the match.

Golasa sent a ball from 25’ meters towards Glazer in the 65’ but the Haifa shot stopper made the save while Eliran Atar came on for Micha in 72’. Just one minute later Rukavytsya had a terrific chance to give Haifa a 3:0 lead but his attempt went off the bar. Peretz was issued a yellow card in the 75’ and a minute later Haifa went on a counterattack that resulted in a Rukavytsya goal for the left wing for a 3:0 lead. Golasa was issued a yellow card in the 89’ as the contest came to a 3:0 unhappy end for the Yellow & Blue as they were eliminated from the State Cup competition for 2017/18.

The last time Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv met, the Yellow & Blue walked out of Sammy Ofer Stadium with a 3:1 win. Just ahead of tonight’s Round of 16 match in Haifa at 21:00, let’s look back at some of the most interesting statistics from that meeting.

Haifa’s right wing
In the last match, Maccabi was much more dangerous than Haifa over the course of 90 minutes as Jordi Cruyff’s squad had 21 attempts towards the Green’s goal compared to 9 by the host’s. Despite that, Haifa’s right side was very active and that can be seen from the statistics as it gave the Greens their most dangerous opportunities.

Right back Raz Meir, who played in place of Ernest Mabouka. You can see from the diagram that Meir (#25) played much further up than say for example left back Yonatan Levi. Meir sent the most balls into the attacking third and also made 3 dribbles which were all successful.

Sintayehu Sallalich (#7) played with Meir on the right and attempted to put the most balls into the box with 2 of four being accurate plus two key passes with both hitting their intended targets. The combination of the two gave Haifa 5 of their 7 attempts on goal none of which came on set pieces but an attack down the right flank. There was one down the middle and one from the left side as well.

Caio loves to shoot
Just recently, the Brazilian midfielder Caio has been given a spot in Haifa’s Starting XI. In the match against Maccabi, Caio had the most shots with 3 towards the target, which was a third of the Green’s attempts. This shouldn’t come as a surprise as Caio averages 2.8 shots per match with 1.0 on target. Next in line is Nikita Rukavytsya and Mohammed Awaed with 1.7 each towards the goal. On the other side of the coin, Caio leads the team with 2 turnovers on his side of the pitch.

It is worth crossing the ball into the box?
We’ve already looked at how Haifa’s defense has seen better days, but how much does that concern the aerial battles from last match? With Rami Geshon and Allyson Aires dos Santos anchoring the back line the former won 3 of 4 battles while the latter was successful in 5 out of 6. In fact, right back Raz Meir was also 2 for 2 and left back Yonatan Levi went 2/4 therefore this may not be the style of game Maccabi will want to play this evening.

21.4.2016: Bnei Sakhnin 2:3 Maccabi Tel Aviv
The club’s met in the State Cup Semifinal in what turned out to be one of the most exciting matches of the season. Maccabi was in a deficit situation twice but came back thanks to goals by Barak Itzhaki and an Eran Zahavi penalty. Just before the contest went into extra time, winger Tal Ben Chaim scored a beautiful goal to send the Yellow & Blue onto the Final. WATCH

5.4.2017: Maccabi Tel Aviv 2:1 Beitar Jerusalem
The State Cup Semifinal pitted Maccabi against Beitar Jerusalem in a classic knockout match. The capital city side had caused the Yellow & Blue all kinds of problems over the last few seasons, but in this match Aaron Schoenfeld scored a massive goal while Dor Micha also added a marker before Hen Ezra was able to get one back for Beitar. Watch the highlights

20.5.2015: Maccabi Tel Aviv 6:2 Hapoel Beer Sheva
We know you’re all familiar with these highlights, but here’s another opportunity to watch them once again.

Maccabi Tel Aviv will play Bnei Yehuda on Matchday 20 of the Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al on Sunday January 28th (20:30) at the Moshava Stadium. Tickets are now on sale, so come and cheer on the Yellow & Blue.

Please Note: This match is part of the Points Allocation System and season ticket holders will receive 1 point for this contest while non-season ticket holders will receive .5 of a 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.

Maccabi fans will be seated in the East Side Sections 10-14.

Tickets are on sale via the Leaan Ticket Office located at 101 Dizengoff Street Tel Aviv, telephone *8780 and the Leaan Website.

Print at Home is available

Ticket prices
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans will be seated in the North/West Stand Section 4 and the South/West Stand Section 1. Please note that you will not be able to move from one stand to the other.

Leaan Ticket Office:
East Side Sections: 55 NIS
Silver Section: 110 NIS

Telephone/Website:
East Side Sections: 60 NIS
Silver Section: 115 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 and on Matchday until 12:00.
Tickets may be collected on Matchday at the Stadium ticket windows beginning 2 hours prior to the match.

Maccabi Tel Aviv will continue their State Cup journey when they play Maccabi Haifa at Sammy Ofer Stadium on Wednesday at 21:00. The Yellow & Blue will visit the Greens just a little over a week since defeating them 3:1 in Israel Premier League Ligat Ha’Al action.

WATCH: Highlights of Maccabi’s victory over Haifa

The meeting between the two clubs at this stage of the competition makes this contest even more interesting. Maccabi advanced to the Round of 16 after defeating Bnei MMBE 3:0 in the Round of 32 which marked the Yellow & Blue’s first match in the State Cup. After being out due to yellow card accumulation last league match against Hapoel Ashkelon, both Jean-Sylvain Babin and Nick Blackman will be available to Head Coach Jordi Cruyff.

Maccabi Haifa made their way into the Round of 16 with a win over Hapoel Tel Aviv. The Greens played to a 1:1 draw after 120 minutes as penalties were needed to decide the winner.

“Maccabi Haifa will be tough,” Jordi Cruyff commented ahead of the match. “They have an excellent squad, players, fans and stadium. We have to make sure that the beast doesn’t wake up against us.”

They Maccabi Head Coach continued, “Every time we drop 1% of energy we put ourselves in trouble. We have to be focused. A Cup game is always different than a league game. When they connect they will be dangerous.”

The Numbers Game:
*The two sides have played each other 4 times in the Round of 16 with each team winning two matches a piece.

*Maccabi has won the last two away matches against Haifa and have not lost to the Greens at Sammy Ofer.

*Maccabi will come into the Cup clash with 8 straight wins across all competitions.

*Haifa’s record over the last 5 games stands at 1 wins, 3 draws and a loss.

Check out the pictures from the final training session

71 – The amount of times Maccabi has taken part in the Israel State Cup Round of 16 (15 prior to the founding of the state and 56 after). Maccabi has advanced to the quarterfinals 51 times (12 before the State and 39 after).

Maccabi has played 40 different clubs in the Round of 16. The most frequent opponent has been Maccabi Petah Tikva – 6 times.

Maccabi will face Haifa in the Cup competition after meeting in league play just last week (3:1 for the Yellow & Blue) Will this influence Wednesday’s Cup clash?

History tells us that Maccabi has played the same opponent three times in the State Cup Round of 16 and the league within 10 days of each other. In each case Maccabi won both contests and this occurred against Hapoel Haifa in 1996, Hapoel Tel Aviv in 1987 and HaKoach Ramat Gan in 1940.

However, as you may recall Maccabi faced Haifa in the league and the Cup Final in 2015/16 which resulted in a 6:0 league win and a 1:0 Cup loss.

Maccabi has played Haifa 16 times in Cup action (15 matches and one two legged tie): 5 Finals, 6 Semifinals, 1 Quarterfinal and 4 Round of 16. The Yellow & Blue’s record stands at 9 wins and 7 losses.

5:0 – Maccabi’s biggest win over Maccabi Haifa in the Cup in the 1954/55 semifinal.

Maccabi’s biggest win in the Round of 16 took place before the founding of the State – 10:0 over Maccabi Bar Kochva Jerusalem in 1936/37.

After the founding of the State: Two 6:0 victories – In 1954/55 over Bnei Yehuda and against Nes Ziona in 1959/60.

In the 2000’s – 4:0 over Kiryat Shemona in 2004. Avi Strul, Tamir Cohen and Andrzej Kubica with a brace.

Sheya Glazer has scored the most goals in the Round of 16 with 7 markers.

Maccabi has taken part in 5 penalty shootouts in the Round of 16 of the State Cup and have won 3 times: Against Ramat Amidar (1974), Kiryat Shemona (1976) and Raanana last season. The Yellow & Blue fell to Maccabi Petah Tikva (1978) and Beitar Jerusalem (2010).