What an incredible night for every Yellow-and-Blue supporter! Exactly 11-years to the day was when Maccabi Tel Aviv had last advanced to the Champions League and they did it again, BIG TIME! The celebrations went through the wee hours of the night and here's what all of the Maccabi Stars had to say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R1cLYA3HHQ
But first off is Jordi Cruyff the Sporting Director, the architect of the club whose fingerprints are all over the success of the team who didn't hide his satisfaction of heading into the group stages of the Champions League:
"We successfully navigated through six matches which started off on the wrong foot against Hibernians when we were on the verge of being eliminated and also against Plzen. The club showed a lot of character and belief and belief in themselves with a ton of hunger. To eliminate Basel is a wonderful accomplishment. Personally, for my career on and off of the pitch, this is one of the greatest and happiest accomplishments."
Nikola Mitrovic whose two critical assists during qualifying, the one last night and against Plzen that sent them further into the competition said: "We have to wrap our heads around how big an accomplishment this is. This was everyone's biggest dream and now we've realized it. The key was that we all worked together and we have a great leader in Eran. We deserved this and we fought every single minute, from the first to the last."
Avi Rikan, one of Maccabi's newest faces played in the Swiss League up until last month and was very familiar Basel. He discusses advancing to the Champions League for the first time in his career:
How tough an opponent was Basel for Maccabi?
We are all happy about advancing especially after playing Basel a number of times and I'm thrilled to be on this team. This is very historic because the club has been trying to get into the competition for a very long time. Now we will look forward to the draw and see what clubs we will face.
When did you realize that you were about to advance?
During the game I didn't think about anything except playing the best I could on the pitch. Advancing gives us so much more drive for the rest of the season.
How long did it take for you to fit in with the club since coming over from Zurich?
I fit in very quickly as I have many friends on the team from before and also from the National Team. I'm happy that I can add something to the club like going after every ball that I can and playing aggressively. As time will go by you'll see that my offensive game will pick up also. Right now my goal is to do the best I can for Maccabi.
Barcelona or Real Madrid? Who would you rather play?
I'm going to enjoy the evening and sleep well. I'll watch the Champions League group stage draw and what will be, will be. I'll be happy with whoever we get.
