The second round of Champions League group stage matches will begin tomorrow night, Wednesday at Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa. Just prior to the final training session the Head Coach Slavisa Jokanovic summed up his club’s preparations:

“It’s true our goal is to always win the game that we are playing and we have another chance to do so tomorrow. We’ve improved in each game in this competition and I expect that we will show our best performance of far in the Champions League tomorrow night. Our target is always to try to win the game.”

Maccabi has gained experience over the first three matches:

“For many of our players it’s a new experience and they are beginning to learn how it is to play against top level European teams and for every small mistake you’ll pay a very high price. We will try to improve and compete at this level. Zahavi and Vermouth have played some games in the past but this year is totally different than what was then. We understand where we are and there are plenty of areas where we can all improve, myself and the players included.”

About tomorrow’s opponent:

“Porto comes into the game without a couple of players including Yacine Brahimi but they have some excellent players and I’m sure we will see a similar side to what we saw in Portugal. Now at home we have a chance to put on a good performance for our fans and to continue to improve ourselves.”

Nosa Igiebor has been injured for some time:

“It’s part of football and Nosa is an important player for us. We haven’t been able to use him for over a month. He’s close to being ready but it’s more than just one player. This is a team sport and I’m counting on the whole team.”

Eran Zahavi, the club’s striker:

“I have my striker right here in Eran Zahavi but we need to have more players in the box. This is the situation we are in and we will have to work with the squad that we have. I will keep working on finding the best solution for my team. Just like the great teams Manchester United and City all need more players so do we. Right now Eran is our striker and that’s the current situation.”