Vladimir Ivic, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach took part in the prematch press conference ahead of the Wednesday night’s first leg second round Champions League qualifier:
“This will be a tough game and we are playing against a good opponent who have played 5-6 official games. We will prepare ourselves to give our best and take a good result which for us is a victory.”
Preparing for Cluj:
“My job is to watch the games and prepare for the next game, I have seen a number of their games. They are an organized team that know what they want during the game and we are prepared for this. We will give our best and fight to win the game.”
Playing the second match at home:
“Sometimes playing the second leg at home has advantages but sometimes not. I am not someone who prefers to play the first game home or away. Our philosophy is to prepare game by game and it doesn’t matter where you play, away or home. We are together for a bit over a year and we have the same target each and every game.”
Having many Maccabi players on the Israel National Team:
“We have the most players in the Israel National Team and we have the players of the highest quality from throughout the Israel league at this moment. Our goal is to have even more players from Maccabi in the National team which means that we are pretty good.”
About the Starting XI:
“We didn’t use a different team, but the team which was the best at that moment and for that specific game. It was our first official game domestically and tomorrow will be our first official game in Europe. We will prepare tactically for a very tough opponent in front of us who is very organized and knows what they want in each segment of the game. It will be an interesting game and I hope we will win.”
