The Yellow & Blue moved on to the third round of Europa League qualifying after disposing Kairat Almaty with a 2:1 home victory. Gal Alberman, Maccabi’s captain discussed the match, his goal, moving on to the next round and more:

“It definitely was a match winning goal, but we have to see what will be coming up. We really wanted to advance to the next stage and we came up against a very difficult opponent. We’re still in the very early stages of the campaign and I’m happy that we made it up. It’s very important that we will be moving on to the next round and it’s also important that we make it to the group stages of the Europa League. It’s crucial for the Club and it gives the players a different experience. I hope that we’ll make it happen.”

About Kairat:

“It’s hard to really see what happened in the match but there were points where we were in control and they were as well. This was a team with a tremendous amount of ability and very dangerous on the offensive side. But we had more chances then they did and we were the more dangerous side throughout the match. But at the end of the day we will have to figure out what we did well and where we can improve because that’s our goal.”

Taking shots:

“Many times when we are on offense, I’m the player that has to cut down our rival’s attack and I end up going into the key area. It was my only shot on goal for the whole match and when I have these types of opportunities they have to be converted on a very high percentage rate because I’m a player that rarely goes to the key area and actually shoots. But I want to try and help my side as much as I can. I didn’t have much luck in the past few campaigns, but I hope that I’ll score a bit more this year.”

The strength of the club:

“Maccabi is a strong club and it doesn’t matter how many coaches, players or CEOs will be changed, the spirit of Maccabi is here and it’s very strong. We’re a strong club that doesn’t give up because we know how to score goals at the most critical moments of the match just like today. I hope that this will continue.”

The Club:

“There has been a lot of players at Maccabi and the base of the players over the last few years has left. You can see that we’ve scored a goal in the critical moments of the match both this week and last. I really hope that the players can get to achieve new heights that keeps pushing the club ahead. We want to be at the highest level.”

Shota Arveladze, the Yellow & Blue’s Georgian coach discussed his team’s play following the 2:1 win (3:2 on aggregate) at the Netanya Stadium in the second leg of the Second Round of Europa League qualifying. With the victory, Maccabi will head to Romania and a date with Pandurri next week as they play the first leg of the Europa League third round away. The boss talked about his squad, the new recruit, his impressions of the match and of course Captain Gal Alberman’s goal:q

“I was very happy and immediately I looked up. I’m happy for him and the team. It was important and a nice goal.”

Impressions of the match:

“The first half was reasonable and good, we tried to keep the lead way to early and I said all week we shouldn’t do that. When you are at 1:0 you play a game where the ball goes back to the keeper it can cause problems and we only gave up a counter attack to Arshavin.

The second half we lost some balls and it was unacceptable, which made it very dangerous, though we didn’t give up many chances. But you have to give credit to Kairat they had some good wingers and scored a goal. However, we got back into the game and Alberman scored the goal.”

Pandurii is up next:

“We had a tough flight and we are in need of a break, but we are already looking at the next opponent and we will be playing the first game away which gives us short time to recover, but we will have to deal with it.”

Maccabi’s new recruit Oscar Scarione:

“Scarione will probably not play. He was with me in Turkey for three years and he is a good player. He can score goals, defend well and I’m happy for Maccabi and I hope he will have a good season.”

The striker situation:

“If you give Michael Jordan the ball he will score, but we don’t have Michael Jordan. Orlando had a good game but we will have to keep working with him.

About Nosa Igiebor:

“Nosa was very good today. He has to realize that he can do more. He started well and I’m satisfied. But I want more from many players. We are just at the beginning of the way and we will continue to improve.”

Benayoun’s introduction late in the match:

“Yossi is very experienced and he knows what to do and he knows how to be a coach as well. He is someone that the players respect and I’m happy with him.”

The Yellow & Blue veteran central defender, Tal Ben Haim is looking ahead to this evening’s crucial Europa League qualifying contest, 20:00 at the Netanya Stadium. Number 26 talked about Maccabi in Europe, the first leg and the team’s goal for tonight:

“We feel good and we believe in ourselves. We’re playing against a very good team with some good players but we will do the maximum in front of our fans to advance to the next round.”

About the first leg:

“We knew that it wouldn’t be an easy match and it wasn’t. We have to come into the game prepared in order to advance to the next qualifying round.”

Maccabi in Europe:

“Of course we all want to have a good European campaign and Maccabi Tel Aviv is always aiming to make it into the group stages of the Europa League or Champions League and I hope we do exactly that.”

The most crucial moment of the Europa League second round qualifying is upon us. Following the first match in Kazakhstan, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Kairat Almaty will play the second leg on Thursday night to decide who will advance to the third round. Last week the Yellow & Blue drew even in dramatic fashion when Yossi Benayoun scored in the 90th minute to tie up the match before the final whistle.

In order to get ready for the return leg in Netanya we have some key points for you to think about.

Key Point #1: MIA – Missing in Action
Let begin at the end. Right before the end of the match, Bauyrzhan Islamkhan, Kairat’s Captain was issued a red card after a foul on Avi Rikan. If you ask the locals in Almaty, this may have been an even bigger blow than giving up a goal by Benayoun during injury time. The young Kazakhstan player was one of the key points we focussed on prior to last match. The midfielder was accurate on 50/56 passes of which 32 were on the attack. On the other side of the coin, Islamkhan received 59 passes from his teammates as you can see in the diagram. However, Maccabi was able to stop his fine passing when it came to the penalty area as number 9 was only able to get one pass into Rajikovic’s zone.

It will be interesting to see who will step into the youngster’s shoes and if he will be able to handle managing Kairat’s game, or will the coach decide to put another player that started last match in that position and bring another attacking player into the fray.

Key Point #2: Control, Location, Control
Try to think back to the match. Who controlled the game the majority of the 90+ minutes? If you look at the main match statistics you’ll see that Shota Arveladze’s side controlled the ball for 53% of the contest. However, let’s break down the match into quarters. During the first 15 minutes, Kairat had full control, keeping the ball 73% of the time, but other than the goal that was called offside, the Kazakstan outfit was unable to translate their control into any further chances. Maccabi was able to take control for most of the match, especially during minutes 60-90 and eventually was able to score the tying goal.

It’s also interesting to see where the average location of the Kairat players were in both the first and second halves.

In the first half, Tskhadadze’s players positioned themselves as they usually would in a domestic league match to attack. Arshavin went slightly to the middle of the pitch which allowed Suyumbayev, the left back the chance to continuously attack down the wing.

The second half was a different story. The offensive minded players attempted to maintain the lead as Arshavin played more of a midfielder than a striker coming off of the wing. The player who received more of attacking role for the final 45 minutes of the match was Isael, the Brazilian who caused numerous headaches for the Maccabi defense with four shots on goal and 12 successful dribbling situations, the most of any player on the pitch.

This will also be an area to pay attention to as Tskhadadze, over the course of the match considering everyone knows that in order for Kairat to advance they will need to score a goal.

Key Point #3: The tip of the shoe

We all waited for 90 minutes to see a bit of magic as Dor Micha sent beautiful ball into the box and right to Yossi Benayoun. However, even before that the Yellow & Blue had a number of quality chances but didn’t turn into goals due to a few near misses, the keeper Plotnikov and also because goal line technology was not in play for this contest.

Here’s a map of Maccabi’s attempts in goal. Two of the chances went right to the keeper, another went to the right side of the goal but was stopped by the Kazakhstan defense plus three more opportunities could be split into two as those went to the right of the goal while the other was Yossi Benayoun’s successful strike. You could say that the line “Tip of the Shoe” is an accurate of describing last match, but at a minimum, another 90 minutes on Thursday will be a chance to take a step back to square one.

Last but not least:

Left back to the rescue – Avi Rikan played as a left back against Kairat Almaty in the first leg and did a terrific job. With a vicious shot on goal, two accurate free kicks out of five that found a teammate and five passes into the penalty area showed Rikan’s value throughout the match. On the defensive side of the ball, Rikan had 14 successful defensive plays out of 20. You can see Rikan’s match report and diagram of his actions on the picture to the right.

4X4 – This could be the last time that we will see Benayoun and Arshavin on the same pitch. Regardless of any statistical data or insights, let’s enjoy these two stars featuring on the same field of play.

Ezequiel Oscar Scarione joined Maccabi Tel Aviv FC as the 31-year-old Argentine midfielder signed for the club on a free transfer from Turkish outfit Kasimpasa.

Scarione, who successfully underwent a medical today, began his playing career at Boca Juniors youth academy scored 40 league goals in 94 appearances for Kasimpasa where he spent the last three seasons.

In 2011 the attacking midfielder (179cm), moved to St Gallen and scored 42 league goals in 88 league appearances before switching to Turkey.

Sports Director Jordi Cruyff told the club’s official website: “We are delighted to sign Oscar Scarione a player we have been negotiating with for almost a month. Oscar, who played under Shota Arveladze is a player whose qualities and ability will contribute to the team especially as he can play in several attacking positions”.

Oscar, who will wear the number 5 shirt, told Maccabi’s official website: “I am happy to join Maccabi Tel Aviv and looking forward to meet my new teammates and help the team reach its’ objectives. I am also very happy to play under Shota once again”.

Shota Arveladze added :”We are happy to sign a great player and hope he will be able to display his qualities and abilities”.

Shota Arveladze, the Yellow & Blue boss looked ahead to the second leg of Europa League second round qualifying, tomorrow, Thursday July 21st, 20:00 at the Netanya Stadium against Kairat Almaty.

The Georgian discussed Eli Dasa’s status as well as other players, if the away goal scored in the first leg that ended in a 1:1 draw will be an advantage and began by passing along condolences on the loss of Nurit Mor Zt”l the Youth Department secretary:

“I want to begin by extending my condolences to the family of Nurit Mor, it’s always difficult when you lose part of the family.

Tomorrow’s contest:

“It’s a new game and we can only think about near the end of the match and see if we can slow down the game. But I believe that we have to play our own game like we did after the first half hour of the away leg. From there we can then show our power, how strong we are and go from there. Only then can we see if the away goal will be important.”

The upcoming campaign:

“If you look at the statistics, computers and technology that we use, we are not as fast as the other competition. The league is long and I calculated that we will have a 50 week season and we had a very short break. I hope that the boys can handle it and I have to keep my balance all season long. We just found out when the league starts and the upcoming schedule. I believe we will be fine mentally and physically for the games we will play every week. Sometimes we will have travel including flying far and near. I have to give credit to my team so far.”

Comparing Netanya to Bloomfield Stadium:

“I can’t compare the stadiums as last match was my first experience and I can only expect better and better. We can play some exciting football and people will be angry if they miss some of the great games we will have.”

Status of Eli Dasa:

“Eli Dasa is doing well and has been working hard. We all know the type of injury he had and we have been speaking to the doctors. He is happy and has been training. He’s a warrior and a hard worker and wants to be involved and play. He’s almost there, but I’m not sure how soon he can play. I would like to save him and see him completely heal and not play one game then not play the next. The medical staff has been excellent and we’ve had good communication with them. Thanks to them they’ve been able to give a good level of treatment to the boys.”

Transfers:

“We will bring who is necessary and someone who we like.”

Coaching staff:

“We won’t be waiting too much longer to add staff. One person that I wanted had surgery and I couldn’t take him, but we are close on someone else.”

About Eden Ben Basat:

“I like every single one who fights for his spot and he has done well so far, but there are only 11 places on the field. Everyone has to impress me by working hard and it’s hard to show that you’re number one. Everyone can show that they are number three.”

Working with Jordi Cruyff:

“I know Jordi and we are together 24/7. We discuss plans for Maccabi every day and every second. We check transfers and look to see how we can get better and be the best team in the league. I am not here to discuss rumors.”

Egor Filipenko, the new central defender:

“He signed a contract, passed his medicals and is ready to play. Everyone has to be ready to play.”

Former Maccabi player Eran Zahavi:

“Maccabi is proud of him and he should continue to score. I hope they buy more players from Maccabi and will bring more money into the club.”

Veteran midfielder, Gal Alberman discussed the Yellow & Blue’s return leg for a trip to the third round of Europa League qualifying as they take on Kairat Almaty from Kazakhstan tomorrow at the Netanya Stadium, 20:00. Number 6 spoke about Haris Medunjanin, the short break, the challenges encountered in Kazakhstan and what he expects from their opponent:

“There’s no question that they are a difficult opponent. They will come to play an away match and will try to counter attack. It’s won’t be an easy task.”

About Eran Zahavi:

“Eran Zahavi is a great player from Israel and formerly of Maccabi. He represents us all well, helped the Club, but we have moved on and will continue on our way. I only wish him the best.”

Adjusting to change:

“Every change has an effect but we are all used to it as there are always changes going on. However, the Club is above all else and we hope that we can reach all of our goals this coming season.”

The first leg in Almaty:

“This was our first match that we were really tested physically, more than any other matches we had played. It took us some time to get into the game and we will have to get into the match from the first minute as it may be a difficult contest ahead.”

Short break between seasons:

“As a player I can say that the break was very short and that didn’t give us time to recuperate from the season but on the other hand we stayed in shape and we have gotten into the swing of things much quicker.”

On Haris Medunjanin:

“He has really been a dominant player and has been part of the action since January. He came to us after a period where he didn’t play much and he has done exceptionally well. We all know what he can add and how he can raise our overall level of play.”