Maccabi Tel Aviv will take on Hapoel Beer Sheva in the “Match of the Season” on Sunday evening at the Netanya Stadium at 21:00. Barak Itzhaki spoke about the contest that everyone is looking forward to at the prematch press conference:
About the difficulty playing against teams that play a very tight defensive system:
“We know how to play clubs that are very defensive minded and there’s no question it’s much more difficult, but we have to find ways to break them down. Last match we had a tough time even though we were able to create some chances. I thought we should have won and I believe that we have been playing well of late.”
Set pieces:
“We are working on set pieces including corners and free kicks. We are working on anything and everything that needs to be improved and I hope we will be able to do better in the future.”
Sunday’s match:
There’s no question that this is the “Match of the Season”. It’s been one of the most interesting and exciting games over the last few seasons. We have to do our jobs as best as possible to win the match. We are two points away from first place and if we want to make it to the end, this is a match that we have to have. Players enjoy matches like this and if we go into it the same way as we have over the past few contests, then there’s no question that we’ll win.”
His desire to continue to play:
“Who knows what will be next season. Like I’ve always said, I want to play but I’m not the one who makes the decisions. I’d be happy to play as much as possible. Even in the last match against Beer Sheva in the Toto Cup Final, I didn’t play and we won and I was happy as if I had played. I’ll buy that on Sunday as well.”
About the squad:
“The faith that the coach has in us, gives us, the players confidence. That’s the best thing that can occur and I believe in all of our players. Even during the tough times I believed in our team. The results speak for themselves. It begins with this match. The Match of the Season is a statement game.”
