Maccabi Haifa wants to restore its former glory this coming season and that’s why the club decided to make a major overhaul to its roster. But not only that, the team brought back its former manager Roni Levy. What players did owner Yakov Shachar bring in for the new/old coach? Read below to find out.

Year Founded: 1913

Stadium: Sammy Ofer (30,700)

Head Coach: Roni Levy

Players who left: Miguel, Ruben Rayos, Avraham Paz, Weam Amasha, Elad Gabbay, Muhamed Calibat, Medo Kamara, Shmuel Sheiman, Amir Edri, Sean Weismann, Idan Vered, Gustavo Boculi

(retired)

Players who arrived: Marc Valiente, Glynor Plet, Sun Menachem, Nikola Drincic, Ismaeel Rayan, Ataa Jaber, Shoval Gozlan, Ayed Hbshe, Shahar Hirsh, Yuval Jossipovich, Ludovic Obraniak

Key Player: Marc Valiente

After lengthy negotiations, the Spanish defender finally landed in Haifa to help upgrade the team’s defensive line. Those that have followed the former Real Valladolid man know exactly what kind of prowess he has on the pitch, however Valiente’s air game is not amongst his strong points. Along with Dekel Keinan or Orel Dgani in central defense, Roni Levy can already mark off two matches this season against Bnei Sakhnin and Hapoel Beer Sheva where the club didn’t let in any goals. It’s pretty clear to assume that Valiente will be shadowing Eran Zahavi and will attempt to close down the Maccabi captain.

Past Encounters: Maccabi Tel Aviv ended last season with two straight years without losing to their Carmel Mountain rival. Of course now is a new year. There have been many matches that the supporters will remember between the two clubs especially at Bloomfield Stadium. The 3:1 victory where Barak Itzhaki scored a gorgeous scissors kick goal or the 2:1 win when Zahavi scored in the 90th minute. But the one match that will always be deeply etched into the supporters memory is the 3:0 win under Paulo Sousa. Why? Because this was the first game in nine long years that the Yellow-and-Blue finally defeated their eternal rivals at Kiryat Eliezer. How fitting was it that Rada Prica with a brace and Itzhaki’s goal off of his chest began the new order for the Israeli league in the last year of the historical stadium.