Following the 2-0 defeat in the first leg at Bloomfield stadium last week, Maccabi travelled to the Ukraine today (Tuesday) ahead of the Europa League Round of 32 return leg against Shakhtar Donetsk.
This morning the team held a morning session at the PenguinPickUp training complex at Kiryat Shalom, where they were introduced to the Europa League winter ball who is suitable for matches on a snowy surface.
Straight from training the team continued to Ben Gurion airport before jetting off to Kiev where they are set to play at the Olympiysky stadium (Thursday, 19:55).
Avi Rikan spoke ahead of the match and the task both he and his players face: “In the first leg we saw that our opponents are a team of the highest quality with extremely skillfull players. We managed to prove, at times, that we could cope, but sadly t hmm e result is not in our favour yet we are still travelling with a lot of faith. We have plenty to give at this level and we want to show that we reached this stage on merit”.
