Maccabi Tel Aviv will face Basel in Switzerland on Wednesday 21:45 Israel time in the first leg of the Champions League playoff with the winner of the two legged tie advancing to the group stages of the Champions League
Prior to the match, The Sports Rabbi Josh Halickman spoke with local journalists Dominic Wuillemin of Berner Zeitung and Tilman Pauls of Basler Zeitung about the Yellow-and-Blue's opponent.
"As soon as we saw that Maccabi was in the draw, we knew that it would be the third time that the two clubs would play each other," Pauls said right at the top of our conversation noting that this would be the fifth and sixth times the two club will play one another on the last two years.
However, the team playing Maccabi now is a bit different than the one that they saw in the past Wuillemin said: "Basel has made numerous changes to its squad. Gone are 'keeper Yann Sommer, Fabian Schar, Valentin Stocker, Fabian Frei and legendary captain #9 Marco Streller has retired. But they did a good job replacing those players with Marc Janko in place of Streller, along with Zdravko Kuzmanovic for Frei and they also brought in Daniel Hoegh and Birkir Bjarnason from Pescara."
Maccabi fans will always remember Streller's professionalism on the pitch and his goal scoring knack, but as Wuillemin says about his replacement: "Janko is a good player, but I don't think he's an upgrade on Streller as the former captain was important in the locker-room but Janko is an excellent option."
Pauls also discussed Streller's absence on and off of the pitch: "None of the players who scored against Maccabi in the four previous matches are still with the club. Streller was a big influence in the locker-room but sporting wise they replaced their players very well and we've seen that in the first few games of the season already.
This year Basel will see a group of players filling the captain's role. 'Keeper Tomas Vaclik, Marek Suchy, Matias Delgado and Zdravko Kuzmanovic who played during his youth days with the club will take on the leadership of the club."
Another change for Basel is at the head coach position. Murat Yakin was the manager when the Swiss side faced off against Maccabi, but since then they hired ex-Maccabi boss Paulo Sousa who led the team last year and now Urs Fischer takes over the reins.
"The fans are happy that new manager Urs Fischer is much more personable than Paulo Sousa. The supporters thought that Fischer may have been over his head coming from Thun to Basel but he has settled in very nicely. He is a real fan favorite," mentioned Wuillemin.
Pauls expanded on the coaching change and why Sousa left for Italy: "Everyone was happy when Sousa came to Basel last year and they were all happy when he left for Fiorentina. Management wanted to go back to a Swiss coach that knows the league, the teams and the players. Fischer is the opposite of Sousa and they wanted to not only have successful football but they also wanted to see attractive football."
Maccabi fans should watch out for a number of players says Wuillemin: "There hasn't been a standout player this season as Fischer has used over 18 players so far this season. Breel Embolo has had an excellent start and Jean-Paul Boetius is a spectacular player coming over from Feyoonard and may make his debut against Maccabi."
As to what the Yellow-and-Blue can expect, Wuillemin comments: "There will be about 30,000 supporters for the match and they know that Maccabi will be a very tough opponent. They're familiar with their style of play and can expect tough matches."
Pauls echoed his colleagues sentiments: "You have to remember that Basel began their season almost a month ago and they haven’t lost any matches. They didn't play well in the second leg against Lech Poznan but they still won. This will be a tough tie for both clubs."
