Vladimir Ivic, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach looked ahead to Thursday’s second leg Playoff Round Europa League contest against Sarpsborg of Norway for a ticket to the group stages of the competition:
“It’s one of the important matches. The last one was important and the next match will be important. This is our life. The Europa League is a competition where we all know what our target is. We have worked hard the past month, we have played a lot of games and we are close to the group stages. We need to win tomorrow and play from the first minute to last minute focussed, strong, disciplined and put in our best performance to advance.”
The first leg:
“I believe that we learned more about them and if we look back to last week it’s not that they created something to score but they scored. I believe we played better than them in many parts of the game. We now know each other better and the conditions here are totally different. We prepared ourselves for tomorrow’s match to advance.”
About Jair Amador’s status:
“Jair is in pain and we have to continue to look after him over the next few days to see if he will be ready for the next game on Sunday. The medical staff is doing the best that they can.”
More on Thursday’s match:
“I believe that we can score more than two goals and they scored three against us. I believe we can score more and we want to win the match by playing our game from the beginning. We have to show that we are stronger and disciplined. We don’t have another game.”
The fans:
“It’s better for us to play the second match at home. I expect the stadium to be full with the fans who will support the players and give them power.”
Capitalizing on chances:
“I’m sure our players tried to score over the last match but we missed many chances. The players tried their best and hopefully we will score more. Sometimes you have to score with the one chance you have. This is the reality of football. We work with the players every day and speak with them about this.”
One match to advance to the Europa League Group Stages:
“It’s one game and I know that it’s an important game for the club, me, the players and the fans. The next game will also be important. I prepare myself and explain to the players how we need to play and to be clear in our heads what we need to do. We have to pass on these things to the players. To be cool, fight for every ball and concentrate.”
Thinking positive:
“We believe that we will advance and we will do our best. I only want the players to think positive and believe in what we have in front of us. I am just thinking about tomorrow.”
