I’m disappointed, I believed it was possible to win

Maccabi Tel Aviv signed its great European campaign tonight (Thursday), and although it surrendered in Kiev 1: 0 to Shakhtar Donetsk in the last 32 stage of the Europa League (3: 0 in total), it did so in an honorable manner. Patrick Van Levon’s team showed superiority over the Ukrainian champion in most stages of the game and only due to bad luck did not find the net, even before the orange-blacks were punished on the other side.

Van Leven, Who will now return to missions in the local arena, said at the end: “I am disappointed because we did not score a goal. We had a good performance, we created situations but did not win, hence the disappointment. At certain moments players did not believe we could score. We had some good situations and good levels. Players need to know how to take advantage of situations and score. Our goal was to make it as difficult as possible for them and make them look bad, that was our job. We had a chance to equalize to 1: 1 in the first game and we did not take advantage of it, today we were much closer to scoring even 3 goals, I believed we could win. ”

Maccabi Tel Aviv and Shakhtar players at the end (Reuters)

The first game in front of an audience after a long time: “For the players and for us it is very nice to have a crowd in the stadium. They made enough noise for us to feel them. We expect the audience in Israel to come to the pitches. “

Dor Peretz, Who provided another great European performance, added: “I do not know if I am complete enough because one looks at both the result and not just the ability. There was only a lack of scoring and there was bad luck and concentration, but this is a great campaign and we who imitate have come so far. I can say that after a good first half we felt it was possible to score, but again, it was unfortunate that against such a team to get into so many situations and not score, it is clear that it will be punished. I think their players are at the highest level I have played against, but physically we felt equal today in the fights, unfortunately it was not reflected in the result.

Alan Patrick and Dor Peretz (Reuters)

Does the high ability in the campaign make them feel favorites in the local arena? “In order to feel the best, you have to get better in every game and training, and that has to be expressed solely in the results. The campaign should not give such a feeling, it can spur and push but not beyond. “

The game in front of an audience in the stands: “It’s amazing to feel the crowd and we pray it will return in the country as well.”