Albert Capellas, has joined Maccabi Tel Aviv’s coaching staff after being appointed as Shota Arveladze’s assistant coach.

Capellas, 48, began his coaching career at Barcelona’s Academy La Masia in 1999 and where he was Assistant Coach to Barcelona B’ for four years before being appointed as Director of the Youth Department a position he held until 2010. The Spaniard moved to Vitesse Arnheim and spent four years at the Dutch club working as assistant coach alongside, amongst others, former Maccabi coach and current Ajax coach Peter Bosz.

Capellas joins Maccabi from Danish side Brondby where he has been working since 2014 as assistant coach and the youth department.

Maccabi’s Sports Director Jordi Cruyff told the club’s official website: “We are delighted to add Albert Capellas as an important member to our coaching staff. Capellas has gained a lot of experience working in Spain, Holland and Denmark, a fact which could benefit everyone at Maccabi Tel Aviv and help us progress forward”.

Omri Ben Harush looked ahead to next week’s Derby after defeating Hapoel Raanana at the Netanya Stadium last evening on Matchday Four of the Toto Cup. The left back discussed the next week’s Derby, Europa League, the lengthy preseason and last night’s encounter:

“It’s always fun to look back after a victory and it’s a good feeling. We lost Eli Dasa to a red card at the half but then the game opened up and we won which is most important.”

Differences between last match against Bnei Yehuda and versus Raanana:

“We came into the match more prepared and the coach wanted to make sure we would be ready. It was a much better game.”

The lengthy preseason:

“It’s been a long preseason and it feels as if we’re already in the middle of the campaign since we are rotating players. There have been a lot of matches and I’m looking forward to starting the regular season.”

Europa League & the Derby:

“We can’t look too far ahead to the match against Hajduk as we have a Derby coming up beforehand. It’s very important for us and for the fans to win this game. After the Derby we’ll begin focussing on the next match.”

What the Derby means:

“I believe that a Derby is a Derby and both teams want to win to show who is ten better team. We’ll play our best and do what we need to do. It’s important for us and for our fans. We want to continue our winning ways.”

Dor Peretz spoke about his club’s victory over Raanana in Toto Cup Matchday Four action at the Netanya Stadium and also looked forward to the Derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv this coming Monday night in Petach Tikva as well as playing various positions on the pitch:

“Playing right back is another new position and I’m always learning something on the pitch. At the end of the day I want to stay on the field as much as possible and I’ll do the best I can as I continue to learn from match to match and practice to practice. I try to play as much as I can and if I’m not on the pitch then I’ll be on the bench ready to go when called upon.”

About the Derby:

“A Derby is a Derby. When, where, why it’s a Derby. “We always want to win. We will be preparing for this match very seriously and come into the game prepared. We play Hajduk Split on Thursday but right now we are concentrating solely on the Derby and only after that we will move our focus to Hajduk.”

Shota Arveladze, the Yellow & Blue’s boss discussed his side’s win over Raanana in the Toto Cup as Maccabi will play it’s last match in the competition this coming Monday evening against Hapoel Tel Aviv at the Moshava Stadium. He spoke about the match that was, how the players are doing as well as the Derby:

“As far as I understand it’s a Derby. I’ve heard a lot about it and I’m excited. We’re used to playing two games a week and we’ve played with short rest. We’ll have two days to recover for the Hajduk Split match and today we played with ten players. We will see how it goes.”

The game against Raanana:

“We controlled the game, tempo and everything, nice goals and even with ten men, it was crazy to get such a red card. I got to give credit to the guys as its not easy to play in this type of weather.”

About the players:

“A lot of players are doing well, Dor Peretz, Micha, TT, Yossi and Barak along with Nosa Igiebor and Haris have all been playoff well. Gal scored a fantastic goal. I know that it’s a long preseason and it’s hard to play and to be motivated in this weather for every game.”

Nosa Igiebor scored a first half goal while Dor Micha and Orlando Sa added second half markers as a ten man Maccabi defeated Raanana on Matchday Four of the Toto Cup 3:0.

Head Coach Shota Arveladze continued with Haviv Ohayon as his starting keeper for the Yellow & Blue while a defensive quartet of Eli Dasa, Eitan Tibi, Egor Filipenko and Avi Rikan helped defend his goal. Captain Gal Alberman played as the defensive midfielder with Haris Medunjanin and Nosa Igiebor at his side while Dor Micha, Oscar Scarione and Barak Itzhaki provided the attack.

First Half

Following close to a quarter hour of tentative play from both sides, Maccabi finally broke through with a gorgeous 14th minute goal from Igiebor. Scarione gave the Nigerian a beautiful backheel pass on the left side of the pitch that the midfielder took to his right and blasted home from the top of the box, beating Raanana keeper Arik Yanko for the 1:0 lead.

After a 20th minute yellow card was handed to Dasa, Medunjanin gave the right back a nice pass which he in turn sent to an oncoming Itzahki but his effort just went wide left of the goal in the 25th minute. Raanana came back with two late first half chances as Dor Hugi missed the target while Gal Arel’s chance just missed the goal.

However, right before halftime, Dasa was shown a second yellow card resulting in a red as he was sent off for a reckless tackle leaving Maccabi with only ten men for the final 45 minutes.

Second Half

To begin half number two, Coach Arveladze made a couple of changes introducing Omri Ben Harush and Dor Peretz in favor of Itzhaki and Rikan. In the 52nd minute Peretz had a wonderful chance in front of the goal from an Igiebor pass but Yanko was able to push the ball away for a corner. A minute later Scarione left Micha one on one with Yanko but Ben Vehava was able to knock the ball away from behind and our for a corner as Maccabi continued to threaten for an insurance goal.

And that’s exactly what they got in the 61st minute from Micha. Scarione sent Peretz the ball on the right side who passed it to Micha who in turn put the ball into the goal in the 61st minute for the 2:0 advantage.

Coach Arveladze made three more substitutions bringing in winger Tal Ben Chaim, Orlando Sa and Eyal Golasa that led to the final goal of the evening as Sa took a Micha pass and beat Yanko for the 3:0 victory.