Head coach Oscar Garcia is preparing for a close tie against NK Maribor but knows what the bottom line is: "We have to score"
The Maccabi Tel Aviv squad have completed their final preparations ahead of their Champions League 3rd round qualifying second leg tie against Slovenian champions NK Maribor. Before the practice head coach Oscar Garcia and central defender Carlos Garcia spoke to the local press: "I don't think the game will be much different than last week", the coach explained, "I think Maribor will play in the same style and they have a good result to protect. We know what we have to do, clearly we have to score, and that's what we'll try to do. The only thing that surprised me about Maribor in the last game was the fact that they abandoned their usual formation of two strikers and came out with one striker and one player behind, but it was only a small difference. Maybe we didn't expect it but they have enough players up front to play with a different formation".
Garcia was asked about his comments after the first tie about Maribor not playing as well as he anticipated: "I know Maribor are a good team with talented players and normally they play well, but I said this because I wanted to give credit to my players. Maybe they couldn't play at this level because of us, because we played a good game and made it difficult for them".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTLYFGTInmg&feature=youtu.be
The head coach also addressed himself to the question of differences in his team's performances in either side of the half in last week's match: "It's normal. Maribor are already playing in the league, they started the season earlier than us and we expected in the second half that it would be more difficult for us. We had to play with physical problems, we needed to make some substitutions. In the second half Maribor played some good minutes, but I think the fair result would have been a draw".
Central defender Carlos Garcia sounded full of confidence ahead of tomorrow's match: "Maribor know it's a good result from the first leg but it's not enough to pass into the next round. We expect a hard game but hopefully it will be fine for us after the game. We believe a lot in our chances to pass". Asked if he thought Maribor could score again, the Spanish centre half replied: "It can happen again of course. We'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again. We were very close to finishing the game with a draw. No-one likes to lose games like that and at the last minute. I was so mad because I don't like to lose, even less in these conditions. I hope I'll finish tomorrow with better feelings than in the last game".
