Maccabi Tel Aviv and Cypriot champions APOEL Nicosia both held news conferences in advance of their Europa League group stage tie tomorrow night at 8pm at Bloomfield Stadium
Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Paulo Sousa, speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of his team's Europa League group stage tie against Cypriot champions APOEL Nicosia, said: "Things are going as planned, we have a great deal of ambition, determination and positive feelings towards our fans who wish to get a return on the emotions they feel towards the team. We're happy to see our lads playing on international level and we want to continue to work hard". Asked to say a few words about his Cypriot opponent, Sousa said: "APOEL Nicosia have undergone some changes, two years ago they reached the advanced stages of the Champions League, they have a lot of experience and it will be a difficult match, but like I said we have a lot of self-confidence so we'll be playing positive and resolute football in order to achieve our objective. Every team have their strengths and weaknesses but we want to carry on improving regardless of any particular opponent. Our goal is to win the league but the Maccabi mentality is to win every game, our positive attitude is what helps us produce a good display".
Team captain Sheran Yeini added: "We've been playing many years together, we're adjusting to Paulo's requirements and are ready for this match. As athletes we're competitive and want to win every match, we're not thinking about getting to the next stage because we're focused on this match". As for APOEL, Yeini said: "They're an excellent side and we respect all their achievements, but we're a good team, especially at home, so they'll find the going far from easy".
APOEL for their part held a final practice at Bloomfield Stadium after holding a press conference of their own. Head coach Paulo Sergio said: "We have new players in the squad so it takes time to reach our peak level. There's room for us to improve and I'm sure we'll do it, I believe in my players and I hope we'll give everyone something to be proud of at the end of the match". As for his Israeli opponents he said: "Maccabi are a good and talented side, they're doing good work here and they've played quality matches this season, they're fast and technically good so we'll have to continue to improve in order to get the results we want".
APOEL midfielder and vice-captain Constantinos Charalambidis added: "We have a lot of new players but we'll carry on improving. Tomorrow's match is on European level and for us it has historic importance because it's our first time playing in the Europa League. Maccabi are a good team and they play attacking football, but we'll be out there to win".
