Maccabi head coach Pako Ayestaran is ready for Sunday's intriguing encounter with Maccabi Haifa: "It's a totally different team to the one we confronted three times during the league"
"Always there's a big rivalry between big teams and these are two of the big teams in Israel. I think they're the most successful teams in Israel. In this case it should be the 'Clasico'", were the opening words of Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Pako Ayestaran at the start of the press conference ahead of the club's opening top-six playoff tie against traditional rivals Maccabi Haifa on Sunday at 8.40pm. Before that the coach expressed his condolences to the family of team player Carlos Garcia, who learned on the way to training that his grandfather had passed away today: "First of all I would like to send my condolences to Carlos Garcia's family because his granddad passed away today. He had a notice just today when he was coming here. We always say that football is the most important thing in life but only when the family matters are in the right way. Of course for him now the most important thing is his family and he will have the support of the coach and the players in whatever he needs in the coming hours".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYH5Oy-KNrk
So far this season, Maccabi Tel Aviv have faced their northern namesakes three times in all competitions, and won all three encounters. But the Spaniard is sure that the two teams' season record so far will not be of any importance when they meet for the fourth time on Sunday: "It will be a difficult game, especially because it's a totally different team to the one we confronted three times during the league. You see the line-up, there are just two or three players that played against us. In this case the game will be different and for sure we will have to be ready for that".
Ahead of yet another game at Bloomfield Stadium, Pako was also asked about the disapproving reaction of Maccabi fans last Monday night to the substitutions he made at the match against Hapoel Petach Tikva: "Normally the one you listen to is the one who shouts more. It doesn't mean that they are more and it doesn't mean that they are right, just that they shout more. Because I don't like to shout and it's something I am going to continue, and I am going to continue respecting them even if they don't agree with me".
Eran Zahavi, who has scored in both of the team's league victories over Maccabi Haifa this season, is ready for yet another intriguing contest against the northern rivals: "Whenever you face a team that are keen to play at your level, to attack and get all three points like yourself, the game is more open and lifts the two sides to an entirely different level. In games like that the mental frame of mind becomes more important, but even when you play smaller clubs you have to be in the same frame of mind and that's what's really hard in football. In any case, we hope to get the job done against Maccabi Haifa and no question about it, we're looking forward to it".
With the season entering its criticial phase the prolific midfielder had a word to say about the team's ability and fitness: "We have to stick to our guns, a quick passing game, pressure on the opposing team and everything else we've been trained to do and have been doing during most of the season. That's what we intend to do from this point on. It's very flattering to know people expect even more from us, but right now we're on top by a fair margin. The season started very hard for us, with lots of bother. We didn't look good and suddenly we're going for all the titles and we have to put things in proportion. Of course you can also do better, but so far we're having a very good season as it is".
