MTA head coach Oscar Garcia is not taking tomorrow's opponent Santa Coloma for granted: "European ties are never easy to win"
Tonight the Maccabi Tel Aviv squad held their final practice ahead of tomorrow night's second leg Champions League 2nd round tie against Andorran champions Santa Coloma. In accordance with UEFA's announcement that in light of the security situation Israeli clubs participating in European competition would not be able to host their home matches in Israel, the match is being held at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, home of Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta FC in Larnaca. At a press conference held before the pre-match training, Maccabi head coach Oscar Garcia had this to say about the forthcoming contest: "Obviously we would have preferred to play on our home turf in front of our own fans at Bloomfield. But we understand that's impossible so we'll have to make do". Garcia continued: "It goes without saying that the situation in Israel has an influence on the players. It's not easy for me either, as a foreigner in a country undergoing a conflict like that, but we're all professionals and we'll have to cope with it".
The head coach added: "It's not the best kind of preparation for a match as important as this one, but the only thing we have control over is what we do at training and the work we do ahead of the match. European ties are never easy to win, all the teams are in top physical condition. Santa Coloma signed a number of Spanish players, they are very well organised at the back, and all you have to do is take a look at the results of the other Israeli clubs playing in Europe to see how difficult it is for them to get results. To win this tie we'll have to be very strong mentally. Santa Coloma believe they can get to the next round and it's up to us to stop them".
Young Israel and team midfielder Dor Micha, who played the full ninety minutes in the first leg last week, had this to say about tomorrow night's opponent: "I think people make too light of Santa Coloma. They may not be a big club, but they were playing at home and it's hard to break down a team that spends the whole match in their own half. We did create chances and in the end got a good enough result but it's pretty clear we'll have to improve this time around. The performance wasn't bad for a first outing and I'm sure we'll improve as we go along. But a one-goal advantage is still precarious so we'll have to be focused on this match alone and get out there tomorrow and do our jobs".
Coach and player both had a word to say about the children from areas close to the conflict zone in Israel who accompanied the team to Cyprus and were guests at the pre-match warm-up: "This was the right thing to do", said Micha. "We know how hard the situation is for the people in that area, how much they have to put up with, so if there's any little way we can help them, and it's really not that much unfortunately, it's a real privilege for us". Head coach Garcia added: "This was a marvelous decision the players made to bring these kids along and I'm very proud of each and every one of them".
