In the 82nd minute, Shota Arveladze inserted Gal Alberman, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Captain into the match against Dundalk which the Yellow & Blue won 2:1. Few know, but this was Alberman’s 50th European appearance across all Club competitions and now’s the time to honor our Captain and look back at some of his great moments.

Video: Alberman scores against  HJD

First appearance – Petach Tikva faces Larnaca

Alberman’s debut was against AEK Larnaca at the Ramat Gan Stadium in UEFA Cup action as his side entered the contest down 3:0 after the first leg in Cyprus. Number 6 was in Guy Luzon’s Starting XI that turned the tables and defeated Larnaca 4:0 to advance to the next round of the competition.

Champions League with Beitar

In 2006/07 Alberman added another two matches in the UEFA Cup and the following season participated in the qualification rounds of the Champions League, appearing twice against the Danish side FC Copenhagen.

Yellow & Blue Debut

Gal Alberman signed with Maccabi in August of 2010/11 and didn’t play in the qualification matches against Olympiacos and Paris St. Germain. The following season he wasn’t included in the squad that faced Khazar Lankaran FK in the second round and had to wait until the third round to face FK Željezničar to make his first appearance for the Yellow & Blue in Europe by playing in Sarajevo in the Club’s 2:0 victory thanks to a brace by Roberto Colautti. Alberman came on as a 69th minute substitute for Yoshiko Lugassi.

First European goal with Maccabi

Playing against Hungarian side Gyori in the Champions League qualification rounds, Barak Itzhaki scored in the first half to give the Yellow & Blue a 1:0 lead. But as the match headed into second half injury time, Number 6 came in as a trailer and picked up a loose ball that he slammed into the goal to give Maccabi a 2:0 advantage. If you can’t remember it, that’s why we added the video highlights.

27 opponents

Alberman had the opportunity to visit many countries and play against a variety of clubs across Europe. In total he faced 27 teams and here’s the complete list: Dinamo București, Heerenveen, Larnaca, Copenhagen, Panathinaikos, Besiktas, Dynamo Kyiv, Gyori, Basel, Bordeaux, Frankfurt, APOEL Nicosia, Santa Coloma, Maribor, Hibernians, Plzen, Chelsea, Porto, Gorica, Kairat Almaty, Pandurii, Hajduk Split, Zenit St. Petersburg, Alkmaar and Dundalk.

Deciding Goal

It was just two months ago that Alberman sent a scorcher into the Kairat goal in the 86th minute that helped Maccabi advance to face Hajduk Split in the Europa League Playoff Round. There’s no question that this was one of the greatest goals of his career.

Appearances in numbers

Champions League – 21
Maccabi Tel Aviv – 19
Beitar Jerusalem – 2

Europa League – 29
Maccabi Tel Aviv – 25
Beitar Jerusalem – 2
Maccabi Petach Tikva – 2