About the match
- Just four days after capturing the league title, Maccabi Tel Aviv will look to advance to the State Cup Finals but in order to get there they must face Bnei Yehuda in the semifinals at Teddy Stadium.
- Head Coach Vladimir Ivic already had his players back at training immediately following the championship game and made sure that they made the switch as they prepare in earnest for a tough contest versus Bnei Yehuda
- There will be a number of players who will be unavailable for the match including Eyal Golasa, Dor Micha and Uros Nikolic who are all injured. Avi Rikan will be back after missing the Haifa match due to yellow card accumulation.
- Bnei Yehuda comes into the match having won only once in their last five contests with the victory coming over Maccabi Haifa in the first Championship Playoff game. This past weekend Yossi Abuksis and his squad drew against Maccabi Netanya.
- To get to the semifinals Bnei Yehuda defeated Beitar Nordia in the Round of 32 (3:1), Nazareth Elite in the Round of 16 (2:0) and Hapoel Afula in the two legged quarterfinal (3:1).
Did you know?
- In their past 14 semifinals, only once did Maccabi not advance to the final (2003 vs Ramat Gan).
- The last time Maccabi faced Bnei Yehuda in State Cup action was in the 2016/17 final which the Yellow & Blue lost on penalties.
- Yonatan Cohen and Maor Kandil were in the Bnei Yehuda squad in that match and lifted the Cup at Teddy Stadium.
- The last time Maccabi played the semifinal at Teddy Stadium was against Maccabi Ahi Nazareth where they won 3:0.
- Maccabi has won the league championship and played in the State Cup competition only twice in the same week. Both times they also won the Cup.
Photos from the final training session
