Nir Bitton returned to Israel and joined Maccabi last summer after nine successful seasons at Glasgow where he won 18 trophies with Scottish giants Celtic. Bitton, who featured 55 times for Celtic in the Champions League and Europa League clearly knows what it takes to reach those levels: “The coaching staff will prepare us in the best possible way. They (Larnaca) reached the Round 16 in Conference League last season so we are dealing with a good, strong and experienced side. We will need to be at our best in order to beat them and we will hope to do so. We have a target this season – reaching the group stages.”
Biton who played in 2 of Maccabi’ three matches so far tis season, in the 6-1 victory away to Be’ersheva followed by the 3-0 victory over Petrocub at Bloomfield in the previous round, added: “I started last season on a high note as well. I believe in myself and know what I can give. Several things happened last season that got me a little out of my flow. Then there was the change in the coaching staff midway through the season. Now we have a new coach and we are all trying to adapt to his style. I am receiving a good feedback, which is not something one should take for granted. As far as I am concerned, it is not an individual sport but a team sport so I will keep on doing my best for the team like I have done throughout my career.”
Bitton, then shared some of the personal difficulties he experienced upon returning to Israel, as he didn’t hide his emotions: “There are things that happen off the pitch that people are not aware of, there is a family especially kids. One has to admit that even though I am Israeli and spent most of my life here, I returned after nine years of playing abroad. I never opened up on this until today, but my kids experienced a big crisis when we all returned. They suddenly didn’t hear English around them and the little one even suffered from issues with his speech. He struggled with the language, with adapting to Israel. Such things can effect an entire family and take a footballer off balance. There are issues that are beyond our control, but people tend to judge you based on your performance on the pitch, yet there are matters like family that are a little more important than football.”
