Maccabi Tel Aviv Captain Eran Zahavi scored the club’s first goal in UEFA Champions League action this campaign on a 75th minute penalty. Though the Yellow-and-Blue came up on the shirt end of a 3:1 scoreline Zahavi and the club looked at the positive improvement the team is showing over the course of the campaign:

“I think we looked good and we did a lot of things well in this game. But we made some mistakes and we paid the price for them. This is the level of play when you face teams like Porto but we were able to keep up with them as best we could. I feel like we are gaining confidence from game to game, we had some very good minutes and we did some very nice things on the pitch. I hope that in the next two games we’ll pick up some points.”

On showing improvement each match:

“We feel that from game to game we’re beginning to control some of the minutes and the course of play. Our players are controlling the ball and they’re gaining experience since for some of the players it’s the first time they are playing in this competition. Right now we are not at Porto’s level and we’re not close to being there. The goal of the club is to continue to improve and advance so we can play in this type of tournament every year. Over the years to come you’ll be able to see a marked improvement in our play.”

Getting a positive result against Chelsea:

“I really hope so because that is one of ours goals and we’d like to gain some points. I can’t guarantee anything because Chelsea is a much better team than us but nonetheless I still believe that we can do it.

Scoring Maccabi’s first Champions League goal in 11 years:

“Everyone really waited a long time for a goal from Maccabi in Champions League play. But the main thing was to try and win the game. We scored and that also got the monkey off of our backs as we’ve been asked many times when are we finally going to score in the Champions League. I scored but we didn’t pick up any points, so right now the goal was nice but didn’t mean anything. We’ll have to keep improving.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv central defender Eitan Tibi moved over to play right back for the club against FC Porto in Champions League play at home. Tibi summed up the match and was cautiously optimistic going into the final two Matchdays in European competition:

“We’re disappointed but we still had our best game so far in the Champions League, however, we still lost. We did score a goal so that was good and I hope in the next game we’ll be able to continue to advance in our play”

The club’s play has continued to improve:

“I agree that we’ve improved and taken positive step forward. But it’s still not enough and we have to take our game to the next level and come away with either a draw or a win in the remaining matches.”

Both sides had opportunities to score:

“They were able to score on the chances that they had. We have to concentrate more and be more organized to stop those types of goals. When we have our opportunities we have to find a way to finish them.”

Matchday Five will feature Chelsea visiting Israel:

“We don’t have an easy game against Chelsea coming up but I really hope this will be our first win in Champions League play.”