Maccabi Tel Aviv face Maccabi Nethanya away in the eighth round of the Israeli National Cup
The draw for the eighth round of the Israeli National Cup that was held yesterday at the offices of the Football Federation produced an intriguing tie for Maccabi Tel Aviv. The Yellows will be playing away to Maccabi Nethanya and it will be Tel Aviv's first opportunity to play at Nethanya's brand new stadium after playing this season's first league tie in Ramat Gan. This is the second time the two clubs are meeting in this round of the competition. When Tel Aviv hosted Nethanya in the 2009/10 season they triumphed 3-1. Their two Premiere (Winner) League meetings that year produced a double for Nethanya, 1-0 at the first meeting in Ramat Gan and 1-2 in the second at Bloomfield. Their meeting in the Toto Cup also saw the Yellow Blues come out on top with a 3-0 home win played at the Moshava stadium.
Round eight of the Israeli National Cup will be played on the 29th and 30th of January and Maccabi Tel Aviv's tie with Maccabi Nethanya will be one of four matches between leading Premiere League clubs. Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Oscar Garcia had this to say after the draw: "This is a tough draw against a club we've played in the league and in the Toto Cup. It will not be an easy game, and away it will be even harder".
Gil Fishel, managing director of Maccabi Nethanya, had this to say: "This is not an easy draw for us, but I don't think it's easy for them either. And if they think it is, well, that only makes it easier for us. It'll be something to watch, two big clubs with a tremendous crowd. It's a cup tie. We want to win every match that comes our way, especially a cup tie, and with three weeks to go I hope we'll be in top form. We just want to win every match and it makes no difference to us what match it is. But this one is the most difficult of all. This could have been the final, but you know what they say, the cups have a logic of their own. Let's put it this way, if you want to win the cup you have to beat Maccabi Tel Aviv".
