The 2-0 loss of Maccabi Tel Aviv last night (Thursday) to Shakhtar Donetsk was accepted with understanding, although it was impossible to avoid a feeling of missing out. Still, despite the level differences, the Ukrainian champions are still removing rust after the long break and had a bit of a hard time in the second half, compared to the Yellows who got into situations and could have equalized.
“Too bad for the second goal we conceded,” players on the team said. “We were close to equality and it was an unnecessary goal, and also the loss of the ball that led to it. We fell small and both goals were our mistakes.” A player on the team added: “We do not give up on the interaction, but the balance of power is clear. In fact, nothing extraordinary happened yesterday, neither for good nor for bad.”
“Honestly, it will be very difficult and we’ll see how it goes,” the coach said Patrick Van Leven At the post-match press conference when asked about the reciprocity. “Losing 2-0 at home is not a good position to be in.” In addition, although Dan Bitton was part of the first goal scored by Shekhtar, Van Levon said his substitution at half-time was not the result of a mistake.
On his impression of the ability of his players, the coach said: “We tried to keep order and produce situations, and it worked well at times. “He will give us a goal. I think we had a situation that we could have conquered and if we had conquered, we could have kept that result to the end.”
In general, in games at the highest levels of Europe, it can be seen that the Yellows have no substitute for Jonathan Cohen in the wing. Cohen will continue to be absent from both the cup game on Sunday against Beer Sheva and the rematch in Ukraine, while Eyal Golsa, who returned to play, is expected to start against Hapoel Beer Sheva.
Indeed, apart from the rematch in Ukraine next week, Maccabi Tel Aviv is expecting an equally important game against Hapoel Beer Sheva in the cup, and the coach said: “We have the players who can play on Sunday, so I do not worry about it too much and we will be ready.”
At the same time, Maccabi Tel Aviv are making a great effort to keep Dor Peretz, and offered him a three-year contract with the highest salary for an Israeli player. However, it is estimated that Peretz, who is considered a free agent, will not give up the opportunity to play abroad. “This is not my decision,” Van Leven said, adding: “I think the management knows his qualities, and that she will act accordingly.”
Since Van Leven replaced Yorgos Donis, the Yellows have looked much better, and having already coached the team in the summer, the Dutchman was asked if he might have had to continue since “at the time the club was busy looking for a coach”, he replied. “That was the situation and beyond that, I can not answer.”
Goalkeeper of the team, Daniel Tennenbaum, Described the feelings after the loss: “It was a tough game, we knew Shakhtar was a good team at a high level. We got into situations and I think it was a really good game of ours and we did our best. It sucked a bit more to absorb another goal in the last minutes, “.
“We felt good and got into situations,” Tennenbaum concluded. “But it was also a bit difficult defensively because they are a technical team that knows what to do with the ball and in the end we got into situations, but we did not win and it sucks a bit. We showed that Maccabi Tel Aviv is a high level team and that we are strong.”
