Tino Susic, the Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder commented on his side’s Matchday 11 contest at Sammy Ofer Stadium against Hapoel Haifa:

“It’s a very important game tomorrow and we need to give a good performance. It will be a very interesting game as we have something to prove to the fans and to ourselves. Everybody knows how important this game is.”

Getting familiar with Hapoel Haifa:
“We watched some videos of them and they have played really well, but we will show our qualities.”

Acclimating to Maccabi:
“I feel good at Macabi and much better now that I am in better shape. I hope to play, help the team and show what I can do.”

About Haris Medunjanin’s visit last week:
“It was good to see Haris and he helped me a lot. He gave me some advice and told me that I should play relaxed and that everything will be ok.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv will head to Hapoel Haifa on Sunday at 20:15 after a 3-week league break from league matches. Last Matchday, the Yellow & Blue defeated Hapoel Raanana 1:0 which also saw Or Dasa score his first goal, but Head Coach Jordi Cruyff wants to see the club play better.

In the video: The last match against Hapoel Haifa at Sammy Ofer Stadium

Despite the loss to Slavia Prague in the Europa League, the club was happy to get back Eyal Golasa who played his first minutes after being out for four months and will hopefully make his first league appearance of the season against the Reds.

Cruyff discussed the upcoming contest: “We need to win. It’s an important game and we have to be strong and get the points. We need the points and we want to finish the first round with 29 points. The team has been playing well under a good coach in Nir Klinger. We have to put our level up and win well, not just win.”

Midfielder Dor Peretz added: “We didn’t expect that Hapoel Haifa would be at the top of the table but anything can happen in football. They are in first place and we are a few spots below them. It will be a good game.”

Importance of the points: “We want the points and we want to play well. I think we saw our game improving and we are on the way up. This game is behind us and we are already looking ahead as we have an important match coming up.”

The current picture:
Hapoel Haifa is one of the surprise stories of the season since their championship back in 1999/2000. Nir Klinger’s side has 7 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss that came last Matchday at Maccabi Netanya.

The Haifa defense has given up the least goals in the league, with only 8 being scored against them this season with 2 of them coming against Netanya. The Reds starting keeper Ernestas Setkus underwent surgery this past week and will be out recovering for some time as Ran Kadosh will most probably take his place in goal.
Maccabi comes into the contest only 3 points from the top of the table after defeating Hapoel Raanana last Matchday.

Dor Peretz, the Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder summed up the match against Slavia Prague and also looked ahead to Sunday’s key contest against table leaders Hapoel Haifa:

“We played well, but not well enough as we lost 2:0. Every statistic was in our favor but the result speaks for itself. Two goals for them which were fantastic. It’s unfortunate but we have to look ahead to Sunday when we play the table leaders Hapoel Haifa. We will be looking to take the points on Sunday.”

About the match:
“I felt that we played a very strong and physical team but it was very even throughout the match. There were some parts of the match that we dominated and some that they did. Their two goals came at very critical times during the game especially right before the break. We pressed to get an equalizer but they ended up scoring ten minutes into the second half.”

Close to 7,000 fans at the match:
“We want to thank all of the fans that came out to support us and we very much appreciate it.”

Sunday’s match against Hapoel Haifa:
“We didn’t expect that Hapoel Haifa would be at the top of the table but anything can happen in football. They are in first place and we are a few spots below them. It will be a good game.”

Importance of the points:
“We want the points and we want to play well. I think we saw our game improving and we are on the way up. This game is behind us and we are already looking ahead as we have an important match coming up.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv fell 2:0 to Slavia Prague on Matchday 5 of the Europa League. Dor Micha returned to the Starting XI after recovering from an injury and summed up the match that took place at the Netanya Stadium:

“It’s very disappointing. Against both Prague and Astana we weren’t able to score. In regards to our record, we’ve come up short. On paper it’s doesn’t look good. It’s definitely not the Maccabi Tel Aviv that we want to see and I can understand if the fans are disappointed.”

Getting back to league action:
“We’ll have to come back strong in the league. It’s good to be back. I’m still not at my best and I still have a way to go to be where I want to be.”

The Yellow & Blue Head Coach Jordi Cruyff addressed the media at the post match press conference following his side’s 2:0 loss to Slavia Prague:

“We tried to play, but in European football you can’t give up any chances especially right before the half. Our Europa League competition has not been good. Sunday night’s match is most important when we play Hapoel Haifa in the league.”

Struggling to score:
“Lack of belief and we haven’t scored. We have had many shots on goal but we couldn’t score and that hurts the confidence. When you have a half chance you have to take it.”

Difficulties in Europe this season:
“This group was too difficult for us. We have had difficulties in making chances in the Europa League. You can’t compare the two competitions and we played a good team today. We had more possession in both games against Slavia Prague and we couldn’t finish our chances.”

Potential January signings:
“Our best signings are the players who will be coming back. Micha, Golasa and we will see when they get back. We have to improve many things.”

The Club has played many matches this season:
“Mental tiredness. I don’t think any other team in Europe has played as many matches as us. We have training Friday and Saturday and then we have a match on Sunday. That is most important.”

Playing the 4-3-3 formation:
“This is what gives is most stability and is something we can fall back on. In about 30% of the matches I have coached we have played the 3-4-3.”

Moving from Sports Director to Coach:
“Football is a challenge. When I took this step I knew it would be a challenge.”

Sunday’s match against Hapoel Haifa:
“We need to win. It’s an important game and we have to be strong and get the points. We need the points and we want to finish the first round with 29 points. The team has been playing well under a good coach in Nir Klinger. We have to put our level up and win well, not just win.”

The Yellow & Blue came up short against Slavia Prague by a score of 2:0 on Matchday 5 of the Europa League. Josef Husbauer picked up a brace scoring a goal in each half to give the visitors the victory. Maccabi Tel Aviv will now turn their sights on Israel Premier League, Ligat Ha’Al action when they travel to Hapoel Haifa on Sunday night.

Head Coach Jordi Cruyff’s Starting XI included keeper Predrag Rajikovic in goal with Ofir Davidzada, Eitan Tibi, Tal Ben Haim and Captain Sheran Yeini in front of him. Dor Micha, Avi Rikan, Dor Peretz and Cristian Battocchio were in the midfield as Aaron Schoenfeld and Vidar Kjartansson played up front.

Available on the bench were keeper Daniel Tenenbaum, Barak Itzhaki, Eliran Atar, Egor Filipenka, Eyal Golasa, Tino Susic and Or Dasa.

First Half
As both sides began by playing tentative football, Rikan picked up a yellow card in the 8’, while it would be the visitors who would have the first chance in the 13’ of the match when Jaromir Zmrhal’s attempt missed the target. Maccabi had their opening opportunity in the ‘16 as Rikan sent Schoenfeld a ball in the box but #25’s header went over the goal. At the other end of the pitch just one minute later, Zmrhal’s chance from 13 meters went wide of the goal.

In the 26’ Schoenfeld passed the ball to Rikan but his attempt was saved by Jan Lastuvka and three minutes later Peretz’s header from a Davidzada cross was also taken care of by Prague’s keeper. In the 30’ Zmrhal unleashed a scorcher from 20 meters that went off the bar and Tomas Necid’s attempt off the rebound went out.

Slavia almost scored in the 38’ when Necid put the ball over Rajikovic, but Yeini cleared it off the line. Davidzada, Vidar and Tomas Soucek all picked up yellow cards between the 38-42’ minutes. Just as the teams were about to head to the break, Josef Husbauer sent a rocket into the Maccabi goal from 22 meters for a 1:0 lead after 45 minutes.

Second Half
Rikan’s 48’ chance from 20 meters was saved by the keeper while Kjartansson’s opportunity 2 minutes later went out as Maccabi looked for an equalizer. However, Prague would be the ones to find the goal as Husbauer once again unleashed a scorcher that made its way into the Yellow & Blue goal for a 2:0 lead in the 54’.

Eliran Atar and Eyal Golasa entered the match in the 60’ for Rikan and Schoenfeld as Cruyff tried to change up the personnel on the pitch. Atar’s 68’ bicycle kick hit the bar while his follow up was taken care of by the Slavia keeper as Maccabi pressed to cut the lead. Peretz picked up a yellow card in the 72’ and Cruyff made his third substitute three minutes later as Tino Susic came on for Battocchio.

The Yellow & Blue continued to look for an elusive goal but couldn’t find one as the match ended in a 2:0 win for Slavia Prague.

Maccabi Tel Aviv take on Kiryat Shemona in the Toto Cup semifinals on November 29th at the Acre Stadium, 20:30. Come out and support the Yellow & Blue, tickets are on sale now.

Maccabi Tel Aviv fans will be seated on Section 5 East Stand.
The Toto Cup Semifinal is not included in the season ticket package.

You may purchase tickets at the Leaan Ticket Office located at 101 Dizengoff Street, Tel Aviv, by telephone *8780 and via the Leaan Website.

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Ticket Prices
Telephone/Website
Regular – 60 NIS
Silver Section – 115 NIS
VIP – 280 NIS

Leaan Ticket Office
Regular – 55 NIS
Silver Section – 110 NIS
VIP – 275 NIS

Matchday at the Stadium Box Office (should tickets remain)
Regular – 50 NIS
Silver Section – 100 NIS
VIP – 250 NIS

Ticket Collection
Tickets may be collected at the Leaan Ticket Office located at 101 Dizengoff Street between Sunday-Wednesday 09:00-19:00, Thursday 09:00-12:00.
Tickets may be collected on Matchday at the Stadium ticket windows beginning 3 hours prior to the match until 45 minutes after the start.