The history between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Yehuda is awash with goals, starting with six in their very first encounter up to the goals of the legendary Aviv Nimni
2 – The number of goals Maccabi striker Eliran Atar has scored against his former club in five matches. Before his move, Atar put one goal into the Maccabi net in seven appearances.
3 – The number of Bnei Yehuda players (Yossi Bals, Yossi Alfia and Sahar Mizrahi) sent off in the two clubs' encounter in the 1998/99 season. It was only one of two matches in all of Bnei Yehuda's history that three players were sent off in the same match.
4 – The number of wins Bnei Yehuda have registered in their last four encounters with the top four clubs: Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi Haifa and Beitar Jerusalem. Since the year 2000 only Maccabi Netanya have captured more consecutive big name scalps, five in the 2002/3 season.
6 – The largest margin of Maccabi victory in a league match between the two clubs: 6-0 in the 1998/99 season, with a brace from Moshe Glam and individual efforts by Kfir Edry, Alexei Kosolpov, Andrzej Kubica and Avi Nimni.
9 – The number of goals scored by Roberto Colautti in the league against Bnei Yehuda, more than against any other team. All nine were scored as a Maccabi Haifa player. In his first encounter with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Colautti scored a hat-trick.
11 – The number of MTA victories in the Tel Aviv Derby and the results in the following league round: 8 wins, two draws and a single loss, 2-1 to Maccabi Petah Tikva in the 92/93 season after a 3-0 win in the Derby.
17 – The number of goals Avi Nimni scored in the league against Bnei Yehuda. Second in line with just more than half that total is Itsik Zohar with 9. Giora Spiegel is third with 8.
59 – The number of matches against Maccabi Tel Aviv in which Bnei Yehuda head coach Dror Kashtan has sat in the opposition dugout. His record: 22 wins, 21 losses and 16 draws. Of the 19 clubs he has faced more than 20 times in the league, that is Kashtan's lowest rate of return (46%), with the exception of Maccabi Haifa.
117 – The number of league matches played between the clubs all told. The record: 52 wins for Maccabi, 36 for Bnei Yehuda and 29 draws. Goal difference: 170 to 128 in Maccabi's favour.
Last but not least, one anecdote. The first meeting between the two clubs occurred in the 1954/55 season in the last 16 of the National Cup competition, which Maccabi would eventually win. They thumped Bnei Yehuda 6-0 with a hat-trick from Shmuel Yisraeli, a brace from Shaya Glazer and an individual effort from Avraham Turkia.
Courtesy of Yaron Mishal
