This coming Tuesday night July 21st, European football returns to Bloomfield Stadium as Head Coach Slavisa Jokanovic and his players will attempt to overturn the first match result from Malta

The Yellow-and-Blue will host Hibernians with one goal in mind, to advance to the next stage of UEFA Champions League qualifying. One of the big advantages for Maccabi in European play has always been having the home crowd, the 12th player behind them and it's been almost a year-and-a half since the club last hosted one at Bloomfield Stadium.

This coming Tuesday the supporters will paint the stands yellow and help Maccabi advance to the next round. In order to help you get ready we've decided to breakdown the last BIG SIX European games played at home!

July 23, 2013, Maccabi Tel Aviv – Gyori 2:1

After a solid away win in Hungary, the Yellow-and-Blue were welcomed back to a sold out Bloomfield Stadium to complete the job they had started the week before, and that's exactly what they did. Maccabi, coached by Paulo Sousa came out flying and scored the first goal of the match in the 25th minute as Tal Ben Chaim took a terrific ball from Mahran Radi and put it into the back of the Gyori goal. In the 79th minute an own goal doubled Maccabi's score to make it 2:0 before Leonardo Martinez cut the lead in half with just minutes left in the match. As the final whistle blew Maccabi advanced to the third round of Champions League qualifying to face a tough opponent in Swiss side Basel.

August 6, 2013,  Maccabi Tel Aviv – Basel 3:3

There's possibly no other match that showed the power of a packed Bloomfield Stadium than in a game that Maccabi didn't even win and were eliminated from Champions League qualification. Going down by three goals in the first 31 minutes could have silenced the supporters but that was not the case as they helped lift the player's spirits and urged them on not to give up hope. In the 34th minute a terrific play by Barak Itzhaki resulted in a Basel own goal to begin the unthinkable comeback. Just two minutes later a huge goal by Eran Zahavi cut the Basel lead to 2:3 giving Maccabi a good feeling about themselves heading into the locker room at halftime. Just 10 minutes into the second half, Mahran Radi scored a unbelievable goal drawing Maccabi even at 3:3 as the fans went into ecstasy. However, Maccabi needed two goals to move onto the next round and couldn't get another one by Basel as the game ended 3:3.

September 19, 2013,  Maccabi Tel Aviv – APOEL Nicosia 0:0

Maccabi Tel Aviv played their first match of the Europa League group stages at home with over 11,000 fans in attendance at Bloomfield Stadium in an attempt to help the club begin their European campaign on the right foot. Maccabi controlled the flow of the match but couldn't break through for the stingy APOEL defense that was frustrating the home side. But just prior to the final whistle, Eran Zahavi was pulled down in the box giving the Yellow-and-Blue a last minute penalty that Barak Itzhaki would ultimately miss as the match would end with the clubs splitting the points.

November 11, 2013,  Maccabi Tel Aviv – Frankfurt 4:2

After an away loss to Frankfurt, Maccabi hosted the German side at Bloomfield Stadium in an unforgettable match. Within the first 35 minutes Maccabi put the pedal to the metal as Barak Itzhaki with a brace and Eran Zahavi with a goal of his own, shell shocked the visitors. In the second half though, Frankfurt began to mount a comeback scoring two goals to cut the Maccabi lead to 3:2. However, it was Zahavi who put the exclamation mark on the match as his chip shot penalty put away the game giving Maccabi one their greatest European victories.

December 12, 2013, Maccabi Tel Aviv – Bordeaux 1:0

In the last match of the group stages, Maccabi faced Bordeaux for a second time after defeating the French side on the road in the first round of games. The driving rain and cold temperatures didn't keep any of the fans away as Bloomfield Stadium was filled to the rafters to witness Monas Dabbur collect a penalty in the 74th minute in the Bordeaux box. Eran Zahavi stepped up and scored from 11 metres sending the soaking wet Yellow-and-Blue supporters into delirium as Maccabi Tel Aviv advanced to the Round of 32 in the Europa League.

February 20, 2014, Maccabi Tel Aviv – Basel 0:0

After meeting Basel in the third round of Champions League qualifying earlier in the season, the club's were drawn together again, but this time in the Europa League Round of 32. Bloomfield Stadium was sold out once more as both Paulo Sousa and Basel coach Murat Yakin played a game of chess on the football pitch that ended in a scoreless draw sending the decisive match back to Switzerland.

 

Even the fans expressed their excitement as some 100 Maccabi fans turned up at Kiryat Shalom to show their support to the team players

Following the smashing success of the Official Maccabi Tel Aviv Team Stores at 147 Dizengoff Street and at Cinema City, Rishon Le'Zion, the store located at the Kiryat Shalom training facility has undergone a massive upgrade and will be officially reopened this coming Sunday with you the fans! 

Maccabi players Gal Alberman and Carlos Garcia along with CEO Martin Bain and Technical Director Jordi Cruyff will cut the red ribbon to officially inaugurate the new Team Store! They will be accompanied by the Ligat Ha'Al Championship Plate and the Israel State Cup as all the Maccabi supporters are invited to join us for the Grand Re-Opening celebration this coming Sunday, July 19th at 12:00.

All fans are welcome to come and enjoy the new store, hang out with the players and pick up some great new Maccabi Tel Aviv merchandise!

 

Maccabi Tel Aviv to face new opponent in Champions League third round qualifying: FC Viktoria Plzen.

The draw for the third round of Champions League qualifying was held this morning in Nyon, Switzerland. Should Maccabi Tel Aviv be able to defeat Hibernians FC of Malta on aggregate Tuesday night at Bloomfield Stadium they will face FC Viktoria Plzen Champions of the Czech Republic.

Viktoria Plzen was founded in 1911 and comes from the western side of the Czech Republic. The domestic league is currently ranked 14th best in Europe and the team plays at the Doosan Arena which underwent two renovations, the first in 2003 and another one in 2011. Today the stadium holds 12,000 seats and is located in the Strunc Park near the confluence of the Mze and Radbuza rivers.

This past season Plzen won the Czech First League title by five points over Sparta Prague who also entered Champions League qualification in the third round. Over the past five seasons Plzen has won three league championships which has turned the club into a dominating force in Czech football. The club has participated twice in the Champions League group stages and this year entered directly into the third round.

Miroslav Koubek is the club's 63-year old coach and will enter his second season in charge of the Czech side. Last year the veteran manager won his first ever league title with the help of leading goal scorer Daniel Kolar, midfielder Vaclav Pilar and Bosnian Aidin Mahmutovic.

Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder Gal Alberman spoke to the club's Official Website about the disappointing result in last night's UEFA Champions League second round qualifying match.

"We wanted to end this game with a different result, but we will have to lift our heads up as we know that there is another 90 minutes to play. There are things that need to be fixed and we will do that in order to move onto the next round. We started the match off well, scoring a goal in the first half and then had a number of chances to take a bigger lead. But once we weren't able to do that, Hibernians started to have opportunities and we just didn't deserve to win."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsmGJ9QpwgY

The veteran midfielder also talked about his role as captain in place of the injured Eran Zahavi; "As a leader on the club I wanted to do more for the team, but unfortunately I wasn't able to today and I couldn't help us get a better result, but this is already history. We have to lift ourselves up and do a better job next match, because what we saw tonight wasn't good enough."

Bloomfield will play a big role next week for Maccabi and Alberman discussed that as well "I'm sure our supporters will stand by our side and I'm positive they will be a huge help. Together with them we'll be able to hit the targets we set for ourselves and advance to the next round."  

Maccabi Tel Aviv suffered a disappointing 2:1 loss to Hibernians FC in Malta Tuesday night with the Yellow-and-Blue scoring first on a goal by Nosa Igiebor. However, the home side was able to overcome the 0:1 deficit in front of their supporters and take a small advantage to Israel next week.

Head Coach Slavisa Jokanovic didn't hide his disappointment at the end of the match and said to the club's Official Website: "We didn't deserve to win today. Hibernians played better than us with much more passion and ambition and they deserved the victory. We will have to make some changes going into the next match and it's impossible to win if we don't play with passion. Maccabi has some great players and they will have to step up to the plate and show their qualities during the next game. We talked a lot about the good things from last season but in football you can't rest on your laurels."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTGIPL5LTvI

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Veteran defender Tal Ben Haim who was making his first official appearance for Maccabi since coming back to the club, also talked about his feelings about the match: "We are very disappointed. We played against a decent club, but we had to win this match. Thankfully this is only the first half and we will raise our game to a much higher level at Bloomfield Stadium in front of our fans who will help us get to the next stage. In order for us to win the game next week everyone of us will have to raise our level of play, that's no secret and we aren't hiding from that fact. We will need to play much better in the next match and I'm sure that we will do just that."

Maccabi Tel Aviv began their European quest with a disappointing 2:1 loss to Hibernians FC in Malta. Next Tuesday at Bloomfield Stadium, Maccabi will look to turn around the two-legged tie in front of their home supporters.

Head Coach Slavisa Jokanovic started his first match in charge of the club with an offensive lineup featuring only three defenders in front of 'keeper Juan Pablo with Tal Ben Haim, Carlos Garcia and Eitan Tibi. Up front, Eden Ben Basat featured as a central striker with Tal Ben Chaim playing on his left side and Dor Micha on his right with Nosa Igiebor playing an advanced role for the Yellow-and-Blue as well. 

Manning the midfield was acting captain Gal Alberman, Nikola Mitrovic and Gili Vermouth with the latter having Maccabi's opening opportunity of the game with his quick shot being miraculously saved by Hibernians 'keeper Jurgen Borg, giving the hosts hope that this may be their magical evening.

Soon thereafter, Hibernians Brazilian striker Jorge Da Silva Pereira "Jorginho" had a wonderful chance that went just left of the goal. It was then Maccabi's turn to go downfield as they took a 1:0 lead on a goal by Nosa Igiebor. The Nigerian midfielder almost added to his tally but his two brilliant headers went wide and his wonderful setup to Ben Basat was magnificently saved again by Borg keeping the score at 1:0 going into the halftime break.

Each side continued with chances throughout the second half as both teams could have been called for a penalty early on in the final 45 minutes. Maccabi introduced Omri Ben Harush for Nikola Mitrovic and a bit later on brought in Barak Itzhaki for Gili Vermouth, but the changes didn't help as Hibernians equalized on a goal by "Jorginho" Pereira to make the score 1:1.

However, Hibernians were not done as the home team took the bull by the horns and scored their second goal of the match in the 85th minute off a perfect free kick that Jackson De Lima headed into the Maccabi goal. The Yellow-and-Blue looked for the equalizer but it was not to be as Hibernians continued to dominate the play until the final whistle.

Maccabi Tel Aviv will head to Bloomfield next Tuesday night for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League second round qualifying matches, with Hibernians holding a slight 2:1 advantage. 

 

This is what you've all been waiting for as Maccabi Tel Aviv will open up their European campaign tonight against Hibernians FC in Malta!As Head Coach Slavisa Jokanovic and his crew hit the pitch and officially begin the 2015/16 season we've prepared a short video "trailer" especially for you, the Yellow-and-Blue supporters!It's time for you to put on your jersey, turn up the volume and dim the lights. The new year starts right here, right now!  YALLA MACCABI!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9twYoiKtLqE

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