Maccabi Tel Aviv is preparing for their match with Beitar Jerusalem on Monday October 26th, 20:55 at Bloomfield Stadium in stormy weather conditions. Just prior to the club’s final training session, Barak Itzhaki spoke about playing against the team he grew up with and transitioning between competitions:
On playing his former club:
“Matches with Beitar are always exciting for me but I’ll have to keep my emotions in check and concentrate on the match.”
Transitioning between the competitions:
“In the match against Dynamo Kiev we saw an improvement and against Porto we 
also played better football. We will have to put a bigger emphasis on the transition between the two competitions. There are people in the club that make sure we are prepared properly for the upcoming match. Right now we’re focusing on the match against Beitar Jerusalem. Maccabi is a professional club that knows how to make sure the players know the difference between the domestic league and Europe and we’ve also learned this over the years. Tomorrow will be an opportunity to show this.”
About the upcoming match:
“Omer Atzili is a terrific player with a ton of potential but we are preparing for Beitar as a team. They always know how to be ready for a big game and play attractive football. They are a big club that always competes.”
Last week’s game:
“Every player wants to play, but the decision as to who plays or not is the coach’s and it’s a bit sad that instead of discussing the assist were talking about who tore the shirt. I shook the coach’s hand and I wasn’t angry at all. He knows that it’s not personal nor deliberate or a statement.”
