Maccabi Tel Aviv striker Barak Itzahki had another wonderful match scoring a goal and picking up an assist in the 5:0 win over Hapoel Acre. Itzhaki spoke about coming back from injury, starting for the club and Eran Zahavi:

How do you feel playing after coming back from injury:

“I don’t even think about the injury anymore. Little by little I’m getting back into shape as I’ve been playing more and more. I’m also happy that I’ve been able to score some goals and help out the club and that’s very important. There’s a long road ahead.”

Do you feel the fans behind you:

“It warms my heart that the fans want to see me on the pitch. The fans come to the matches to see us perform well and that’s what we’re trying to do for them.”

Are you a starting player for Maccabi:

“If I didn’t think I could start for Maccabi Tel Aviv I wouldn’t be here. I am doing my things quietly and I work hard in practice to be where I am now. I want to play football and there is a big fight for starting XI positions on the team.”

On Maccabi’s performance in the Champions League:

“Dynamo Kyiv’s players are younger than us and they’re basis is better than we get here in Israel. They are very strong but our technique in Israel is good. The gap between the Champions League and the Israeli league is enormous and we are trying to improve upon our performances.”

Eran Zahavi had another good match for the club:

“Everyone knows what Eran can do for us. Even when he doesn’t score he does plenty for us on the pitch and at a higher level than everyone else. I’m happy he scored a brace and it helped him and also the club.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Slavisa Jokanovic discussed his side’s 5:0 win over Hapoel Acre as Captain Eran Zahavi scored a brace, Tal Ben Chaim and Barak Itzhaki each picked up a goal to go along with a first half own goal. Watch

Maccabi Tel Aviv was eager to continue its winning ways as Head Coach Slavisa Jokanovic started a lineup with a few wrinkles in it as the suspended Tal Ben Haim was still unavailable at the central defender position. In front of ‘keeper Predrag Rajkovic were a back four of Eli Dasa, Eitan Tibi, Carlos Garcia and Omri Ben Harush. Manning the midfield were Gal Alberman, Avi Rikan, Dor Peretz and Gili Vermouth with Captain Eran Zahavi and Barak Itzhaki playing up front.

The Yellow-and-Blue certainly didn’t want to have a repeat performance from their match after the Chelsea Champions League game when they lost to Raanana and came out flying as Peretz’s screamer was deflected over the Acre goal resulting in an early corner kick for Maccabi. Zahavi’s pinpoint corner was headed by Eitan Tibi,glanced off of Boris Kopitovic and went behind Acre ‘keeper Dani Amos to give the home side a quick 1:0 lead on an own goal.

Maccabi would hold possession of the ball for the majority of the first half and continue to threaten the Acre goal with an Itzhaki chance just a minute later, an
Alberman 20 meter shot in the 10th minute that just went wide, Dasa’s 14th minute header that was smartly saved by Amos and a Zahavi 17 meter chance that was picked off by Amos once again. Zahavi and Alberman would each have wonderful opportunities late in the first half but the frame ended with a slim 1:0 Maccabi lead.

Early on in the second half Jokanovic replaced Ben Harush with Nikola Mitrovic, which resulting in moving Rikan to the left back position and introduced Tal Ben Chaim for Gili Vermouth in an attempt to inject some offense. And inject some offense they certainly would as Barak Itzahki took center stage with a classy goal in the 67th minute with the help of Mitrovic. The striker would then chip a brilliant pass two minutes later for Zahavi to head into the Acre goal to quickly go up 3:0 and for all intents and purposes salt away the match.

Itzahki would come off in the 77th minute to a standing ovation as Dor Micha would be Maccabi’s third and final substitute of the night. However, the Yellow-and-Blue wouldn’t be finished just yet. Tal Ben Chaim would join the party and score off a shot from the left side in the 83rd minute while Zahavi would add his second of the match just two minutes later to finish Hapoel Acre off 5:0.

Maccabi Tel Aviv returns to the Israeli league against Hapoel Acre this Saturday, 20:00 at Bloomfield Stadium. Eli Dasa, the club’s right back spoke to the official website about his experiences playing both in Europe and in the domestic league, the upcoming match against Hapoel Acre and his transfer to the Yellow-and-Blue:

Thoughts on the Dynamo Kiev match that was and the upcoming games:

 “For me it was a wonderful experience to play in the Champions League, we’re not happy with the result but we have to look forward and we have a long road ahead of us. We gave everything we had but it wasn’t enough as the level of play was very high. We have a lot of goals ahead of us and right now we’re turning our attention to the match on Saturday against Hapoel Acre.”

What is it like to play in both the Israeli league and the Champions League:

“For me it’s something that I’m facing for the first time, playing at the same time in both the Israeli league and the Champions League. A team like Maccabi has to be a dominant force in Israel and it’s something that we can’t automatically do when we play in Europe. We have an excellent professional staff including coaches and doctors who are helping us learn how to deal with this type of situation both from a mental and physical point of view.”

Where do you see the differences between the competitions:

“We can split it up into two different pieces. We come into league games and we have to fight all match to win and we can come away with a victory in the last minutes of the game. On the other hand we are playing in Europe which is much more difficult against extremely fast and physical teams and we have to fight for every single ball, pass and play that we are not used to doing. However, this doesn’t give us the opportunity to relax in the league and we have to play our best in every match.”

Hapoel Acre has been a surprise story so far this season:

“Acre opened up the year very well. They beat one of our biggest competitors for the title in Beer Sheva and that says it all. We’ll be ready for a tough match and find a way to take all the points in the upcoming game.”

Is this another test as how you move from European matches back to the Israeli league:

“We can’t spend too much time thinking about going from Europe to the Israeli league. Like I said before we have an excellent training staff that can prepare us properly for both of these competitions and as professional players we also know how to make this transition.”

On the amazing atmosphere and support at the European matches:

“When you end games in losses like we did in London 4:0 to Chelsea and at home 2:0 against Dynamo Kiev and you see the fans going crazy like you’ve won it gives you a lot of inspiration and    a terrific feeling that you want to give back to the fans even more. It’s too bad we couldn’t give them back a better result or even a goal but I want to tip my hat to the crowd on the unbelievable job they are doing supporting us.”

How has this European experience been different than others:

“It’s a different competition between the Europa League and the Champions League. We started very well at home against Ordabasy but then I picked up a red card in Charleroi, but you can’t compare the two tournaments. The experience is totally different as well, but now I’m with Maccabi and I’ll leave what was in the past in the past and deal with the current situation that I’m in now.”

On moving from Beitar to Maccabi:

“The talk about me moving to Maccabi Tel Aviv if they advanced to the Champions League began when I was playing with Beitar Jerusalem in the Europa League but I didn’t really think too much about it. The transfer happened very quickly and as a young player it was an incredible feeling. This is the dream of every child but I will have to continue to learn and gain more experience from these situations.”