Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Oscar Garcia knows that so far motivation is concerned his players will be ready for the Derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv on Sunday: "I will be able to focus on the tactics"
Maccabi Tel Aviv held their weekly press conference in the run up to Sunday's intriguing Derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv, with head coach Oscar Garcia and defender Eitan Tibi in attendance. Tickets for Maccabi fans are already sold out and visitors' gates 10-11 will be packed with blue and yellow in anticipation of a match that usually delivers on its promises.
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Despite Maccabi coming into the Derby on the back of a run of excellent form and a six point advantage over their rivals in the league table, Oscar Garcia knows that in a match like this there are no favourites: "Notwithstanding our position in the table at this time, the statistics of the last 14 Derby matches show we've only won once so we can hardly be called the favourites. The match means different things to the two sides and anything can happen. Before the match against Hapoel Beer Sheva everyone was talking about our good form and we lost so it makes no difference what kind of run you've been having, you have to go into the match with confidence and focus on the work at hand. We can't be thinking about how many points we have right now, just about what's happening on the pitch".
As a Barcelona player, Garcia was involved in no small number of derby matches and understands the atmosphere surrounding such contests: "I love these matches, when I played for Barcelona the first thing I would do each season was to check when the matches against Real Madrid and Espanyol were. We know this is an important match for the fans and we'll give it our best shot. As a coach this is an easy week for me, I don't have to motivate the players and I can concentrate more on the tactics and less on the players' psyches. I know their motivation levels will be at their highest".
Defender Eitan Tibi, facing his first Tel Aviv Derby in a Maccabi jersey, points out that what's important is the result: "We're training for this match like we do for every other match. I mean, you can feel there's an extra bit of enthusiasm for this one but we're completely focused on the match and hope to come out on top".
Just like his coach, Tibi is not overly preoccupied with the lead over the opponent in the table: "First and foremost we're focused on playing well, not on the gap in the table. Anyway, I don't think that makes us favourites, every match is difficult, the Derby in particular, and we'll have to give it everything and like in every other match we'll want to win this one too". Tibi knows his side have their work cut out for them on Sunday: "They have an excellent attack and we have to go into the match as focused as we do for every match, maybe a little more, and play the game our way".
