After some late drama, Maccabi picked up an important away win against Maccabi Petach Tikva at the Moshava Stadium. The match saw winger Tal Ben Chaim finish the game in goal as ‘keeper when Daniel Lifshitz was sent off and the team had already used all of its substitutions. The head coach summed up his side’s victory, and looked ahead to the Champions League game on Tuesday:

 “The match was not easy, especially because we didn’t start off well. We tried to play with three central defenders but we gave up too much space in the midfield. In the second half we moved to two central defenders and we looked better and won the game. In order to play football you must have some personality and be able to take risks. Sometimes we don’t pressure well enough on offense and we don’t defend properly on the defensive side. This could be a problem against good teams.”

 On Ben Chaim playing as ‘keeper:

 “I asked goalkeeping coach Shura who would be the best choice to play in goal and he felt that Tal Ben Chaim would be the best possibility. He did the job and saved us in the final moments of the match.”

Prior to the match against Porto:

“I always believe that we can win every game. We will go there and try to be as organized as possible. We will fight on the pitch and we’ll work very hard. We have less of a chance there than in the league. We’ll come into the match with a lot of ambition and optimism to the best of our abilities. The club waited 11 years to be here and we now see how difficult a competition this is. Porto will be a challenge and we will try to surprise them.”