It's less than 24 hours until kickoff between Maccabi Tel Aviv and FC Basel at 21:45, Bloomfield Stadium for the right to play in the Champions League Group Stages. Captain Eran Zahavi spoke at the official press conference prior to the match: "We did great work already and we'll do our best tomorrow"
In less than 24 hours Maccabi Tel Aviv will kickoff against FC Basel in the return leg of the UEFA Champions League playoff round for the right to play in the tournament's group stages.
Zahavi spoke about the second goal he scored in Basel:
"I got to see the goal that I headed in and it was fun and felt great. As soon as the match ended in Basel and as well as the game against Sakhnin, all I hoped for was that we would all do the best that we could as a team to prepare for the return leg and get into the Champions League. It's the grandest stage for any footballer where one can see how he stacks up against the best of the best. There may be a ton of pressure but this is where we all wanted to be when we were children. I hope that's what we'll do tomorrow.
It's a terrific feeling to hear about what I did but everyone needs to talk about Maccabi Tel Aviv as a whole and not just me. I scored the goal right at the end of the match, but we all did great work and we will try to do that again tomorrow."
"It's always good to have a bit of luck in football. We didn't have many chances but we did what we could when we had the opportunities. We worked very hard on the pitch and we deserved those chances. If they think that they've already done their job then that's their decision. We respect them but we won't give them any breaks."
The captain also talked about the huge dream in front of him:
"I'm not going to hide from it, but one of my goals when I decided to stay at Maccabi was to reach the Champions League with the club. The past three years we didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had and now it's time to reach this dream with Maccabi. The match tomorrow will be against a very stubborn opponent who will try to make our lives difficult. I hope we can rise to the occasion and overcome this challenge."
The Bloomfield Stadium atmosphere will be tremendous and Zahavi knows it:
"I'm sure the supporters will be behind us from the first to the last minutes of the match. We know that there is an incredible chance, a chance of a lifetime to advance to the groups stages, but it doesn't guarantee us anything. The goal is the Champions League and I hope we'll do it."
