Football will return home – also for Maccabi Netanya: tomorrow (Saturday, 20:45, live broadcast on5SPORT), It will host Maccabi Tel Aviv in a game that will be worth more than just points. Two weeks after succeeding in breaking a streak of three losses with a win in Sakhnin, the Diamonds are interested in continuing the momentum against the strong rival.
- Saturday, 20:45, live broadcast on 5 SPORT: The main game – Maccabi Netanya against Maccabi Tel Aviv
As you may recall, in the previous round, Netanya managed to make life difficult for the champion, after finishing with the Maccabees 2: 2, even during the time of Yorgos Donis. The one who will be at the center of the meeting will be Raymond Atfeld, who will meet his close friend – and the man who brought him to Israel, Tel Aviv coach Patrick Van Leven. “It’s a very exciting game for Raymond,” admitted players at the club, “and we want to win for him as well.” Broadcast that this is a special game for him, and broadcast business as usual.
Netanya will have to make do with non-ideal conditions: it will go up for a meeting without Younes Melda (who was sold to Ghent), Lamek Benda (who injured his ankle) and Aviv Avraham the patient. Atfeld will open with three defensive connections while alongside captain Almog Cohen, who returned from injury, the talented youngsters Yuval Sadeh and Omri Gandelman will open.
Gabi Kanikovsky, who did not play under Atfeld on the wing, will be there without a choice as Chen Ezra and Kwon Freiter will complete the front three. In the absence of reinforcement in the defensive part and due to the injury of Dolev Azoulay, Akinsola Akinimi will continue in the center of defense. The club asked his agent, Stav Hakmon and the brother of the Norwegian who represents him, to find him a team but at the moment he is staying.
Estimated composition: Danny Amos; Karem Jaber, Killian van der Cap, Akinsola Akinimi, Zlatan Shakhovich; Almog Cohen, Omri Gandelman, Yuval Sadeh; Gabi Kanikovsky, Chen Ezra, Kwon Freiter.
Raymond Atfeld Speaking on the club’s official website, he said: “Of course we should have taken more from the last few games, especially given the amount of situations we have reached. I am convinced that if we continue to reach the same amount of situations, we will finish them and improve on the defensive part, we can look forward. Strengthening? “Hide it. Everyone thought that with such a young staff we would be at the bottom of the table, and we are not there. We work with what we have, and the truth is that it is fun and satisfying to see the young guys get better day by day. We are looking for experience but not only.”
On the sale of Melda, he added: “Younes has improved a lot and scored quite a few goals. Belgium is a great country to play in and he will be challenged more than here with me. I am really happy for him. Schechter? Many players will use the name Maccabi Netanya to present themselves in the transfer market. “It makes us an interesting club. I will not respond or refer to players who are not mine, it is not respectable.”