Just three days after the victory over Maccabi Haifa at Sammy Ofer Stadium, Maccabi Tel Aviv is preparing for their match against Dynamo Kyiv on Matchday Two of the Champions League that will take place at the same stadium.
Just prior to the final training session, Head Coach Slavisa Jokanovic spoke about his club’s preparations to face the Ukrainian champions:
“We have to be ready for this type of competition. Even more prepared than usual. What happened at Stamford Bridge is history and I hope that we can get a better result,” the coach said. “It’s not a question of who is better and who is worse before the game actually takes place. Over the last few months we’ve had very important games and we deserve to be where we are today. It’s a tough game and we have to respect ourselves and try to do everything to give our best performance.”
What needs to be done in order to get a better result than in Stamford Bridge:
“You can’t compare the two sides. This will be different than what was against Chelsea. There are different players that play a different style of football. We will be ready and we’re prepared for this type of match in order to get a better result. We’ll do everything to get a better result than at Stamford Bridge.”
What would be a good result?
“It depends on the game. We have to get a feel of how the match will unfold. During a game many things can happen.”
On Rajkovic:
“The match on Saturday gave us all confidence. I talk to all of the players not just him. It’s not about just one player or another, it’s about how the whole team comes to play in the match. This is a great opportunity for us. We have to be mentally focussed in order to be the best that we can in order to get the best result that we can from the match.”
Can Maccabi do something that other clubs haven’t:
“Tomorrow we have an opportunity to take another step forward as a club. We respect all of our opponents but first and foremost we respect ourselves. The match against Kyiv is very important.”
Will you play more offensive or defensive players against Dynamo Kyiv:
“I will try to find a good balance for the club on the pitch, if we play with just one striker it doesn’t mean we will play defensively. I want my club to play well and correctly so there won’t be a big difference between the players on the two teams.”
