Maccabi Tel Aviv advanced to the the third round of UEFA Champions League Qualifying Matches after defeating Hibernians of Malta 5:1. Veteran defender Tal Ben Haim made his Bloomfield Stadium return and discussed the victory.
"We did a decent job today but we will still have to improve going forward. However, we advanced and that's what is important right now. When we lost 1:2 away at Hibernians it definitely put the pressure on us at home but I don't think that this club is as weak as people thought they were.
When you play away and we didn't know that much about the Maltese side it was difficult because they played with a lot of passion. When you play at home it's a different story but we didn't have any room for mistakes. They have a number of good players and we're happy that we accomplished what we set out to do. Remember we are still getting into match shape and that this was only our second official match. Next game you'll see an even better team."
Ben Haim also talked about Maccabi's upcoming opponent Viktoria Plzen.
"We've heard about Viktoria Plzen but we don't know much about them. Our total focus was on defeating Hibernians and on nothing else. Now we will have to get ready and prepare for the next set of matches. This week we will begin to learn about the club and come to the game next week completely focussed."