After scoring twice in the opening three rounds of the TASE Premier League, Dor Micha and his teammates will line up on Saturday for a much-anticipated clash with Maccabi Haifa at Bloomfield Stadium at 20:30. The midfielder spoke about his feelings ahead of the clash.

“Clearly, for us to score our first goal at the new Bloomfield Stadium will be very special and exciting but regardless, we must improve our sharpness in the top third of the pitch. It’s something we are still missing but I’m sure we will make it happen.”

Haifa feel that they are favourites in this clash, what do you think? “Once we are on the field of play, it is irrelevant. As far as I’m concerned, they can be considered favourites but we are aware of the importance of this game and we will be fully prepared for the occasion. It’s no secret that we still have to improve our ability and even though we have won two of our three league matches, we still need to improve and in this encounter we will really want to show that we are getting better.”

Micha declined to discuss how Maccabi see Haifa’s weaknesses but said the side had been preparing and unlike last season, when the play flowed freely and they were all-dominant, Saturday’s clash felt as if it would have all the hallmarks of a proper tussle between two clubs with title ambitions.

“This year it feels as if we will be playing in a big encounter as we have done over the years. It’s always great to be a part of such an occasion and I just hope we are able to win all three points,” he said.

Micha said that after the poor start to the season and the disappointment of not qualifying for European play, the team is now more evenly balanced in defence and it has shown this through tightening up and not conceding goals.

“Our opponents have not been able to create many chances against us, so now, if we manage to sharpen our attack, we will be much better and will approach the level we expect to reach.”

A more even level of play in both halves, where until now there have been marked differences, will also be an important aim and Saturday’s clash will be the time and place to show that improvement, he said.

Most-played league clash: The league fixture between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa is the most-played in the league and the upcoming one on Saturday will be the 160th time that the two sides have clashed in the league.

Of those matches, Maccabi Tel Aviv have won 64 times, Haifa have won 48 and 47 have ended in a draw. The goal difference favours Tel Aviv 227-198. 

In home matches, Maccabi have hosted 81 times in the league and have won 40 of those, 23 were draws and Haifa won 18. The goal difference is 124-75 to Maccabi.

At Bloomfield, which will host for the first time since 2015-16, 42 matches have been played with 14 wins for the hosts, 15 draws and 13 wins for Haifa. 

Most appearances and goals: Over the years, 275 players have turned out for Maccabi against Haifa. Avi Nimni and Sheran Yeini have the most individual appearances, standing at 33 each. Among the 92 different goalscorers for Maccabi, Shiye Glazer was the most prolific, having found the target 22 times. Far behind in second place is Eran Zahavi with 10, followed by Avi Nimni with nine.

Early clash means success: The two clubs have met in the fourth round of the league on nine previous occasions and none has ever ended in a draw. Tel Aviv have won five times and Haifa have won four.

Maccabi go into the clash with a nine-match unbeaten streak in the league — six wins and three draws.

 

Opposing records: Marco Balbul, Maccabi Haifa’s coach, has faced Maccabi Tel Aviv on 10 occasions, five with Haifa and five with Sakhnin. Has has notched only one win, has managed three draws and has lost six times. Haifa forward Nikita Rokavica has scored six goals against Maccabi in the past five seasons, the most by any league player against the hosts on Saturday.

This is the eighth season in which Maccabi is participating in the Europa League and its predecessor, the UEFA Cup – more than any other Israeli club. Maccabi has competed in the group stage on four occasions: 2011-12, 2013-14, 2016-17, 2017-18.

The competition’s format consists of three preliminary rounds and a playoff. All ties at all stages are played over two legs. This season, for the first time, Maccabi has entered the competition in the third preliminary round, meaning it will have to overcome two opponents to advance to the group stage.

In previous years, Maccabi once entered directly into the group stage after dropping out of Champions League playoff round, once to the competition’s playoff round, twice to the second preliminary round, and three times to the first preliminary round.

The UEFA Europa League was inaugurated in the 2009-10 season when it succeeded the UEFA Cup. The change included a merger with the Intertoto Cup, UEFA’s third-tier competition which was discontinued.

Maccabi played its first Europa League fixture in 2010 against FK Mogren of Montenegro, winning 2-0. Yoav Ziv scored the club’s inaugural goal in the competition and the team included Sheran Yeini, Maccabi’s current captain.

Maccabi has reached the third preliminary round on each of its previous five appearances in the competition and has never failed to advance to the playoff stage. The club’s record in all those fixtures amounts to eight wins, one draw and one defeat.

In four of those five ties, Maccabi played the first leg away and completed victory in the subsequent home leg, twice at Bloomfield and twice in Netanya.

The biggest win in the third preliminary round came in the 2011-12 campaign against FK Zeljeznicar Sarajevo of Bosnia-Herzegovina, when Maccabi won 6-0 at Bloomfield. Until this season, Israeli clubs have racked up a 100 percent record against Lithuanian clubs, with four successes, all of which came in preliminary round action. In the UEFA Cup, Maccabi beat FBK Kaunas in the 1999-2000 season and Zalgiris Vilnius in 2001-02. Hapoel Beersheba beat Zalgiris Vilnius in 1997-98 in the preliminary stage of the now-defunct European Cup-Winners’ Cup, and Hapoel Tel Aviv beat FK Ekranas in the playoff round of the Europa League in 2011-12.