Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv hosted the first Derby of the season against Hapoel Tel Aviv on Matchday 4 of the Israel Youth Premier League. The Yellow & Blue came into the contest after a goalless draw at Kiryat Shemona last week along with two wins and in 2nd place while the Reds had only picked up 1 point in 3 matches so far this campaign.

Starting XI: Daniel Peretz, Michael Chilaka, Alon Shtrozberg, Amit Glazer, Tomer Mahluf, Tamir Glazer, Mufleh Shalata, Yoav Hofmayster, Eduardo Guerrero, Omer Barami, Eyal Hen.

First Half
The match opened up well for Maccabi as they had a 2’ chance when Hofmayster made it by two Hapoel players in the midfield and sent the ball to Guerrero but his shot went by the post. Six minutes later the Reds threatened but Ofek Ovadia’s opportunity went out.

In the 18’ Barami’s attempt just outside of the box went off a Hapoel player and two minutes later the Yellow & Blue almost took the lead when Hen took the ball on the right wing but his tough shot went off the defense and Hofmayster’s rebound attempt on target went out for a corner. Tamir Glazer’s 24’ long distance chance was stopped by Reds keeper Omer Barness as he parried the ball away for another corner and one minute later Barami’s attempt just missed the goal by centimeters.

Hapoel had a pair of opportunities in the 32’ both by Daniel Konitzky but his header went over the bar and his dangerous shot was taken care of by Peretz as the half ended goalless.

Second Half
Guerrero had the first good chance of the half from left of the box but his attempt was saved by Barness while a minute later Barami’s shot was also stopped by the Reds keeper. In the 51’ the visitor’s almost took the lead as Davida took the ball from the right side and raced through the middle of the pitch, but his chance just went over the goal as the score stayed as is.

In the 65’ Shalata’s chance cleared the bar and 4 minutes later the Reds almost found the back of the goal on a dangerous corner, but the ball was cleared to safety. Shalata again found himself with an opportunity to score in the 74’ but his shot went over the goal. Tal Yagudaev who had come on as a substitute received the ball on the right side in the 80’ and sent it to Guerrero who had a fantastic chance in front of the goal but the ball escaped his clutches at the last second.

Ofek Ovadia had another chance to give the Reds the lead in the 85’ but his attempt missed the target, while 5 minutes later Yagudaev had a brilliant chance one on one with the keeper but Barness made an unbelievable foot save as time began to wind down with the match still deadlocked at 0:0.

However, deep into injury time Shalata’s fabulous shot beat the Reds keeper to give the Derby to Maccabi and paint Tel Aviv Yellow & Blue! Shalata took off his shirt and was handed a second yellow card as the fans celebrated the win.

Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv and Hapoel “Nisanov” Tel Aviv will meet in the first Israel Youth League Derby of the season as the Yellow & Blue host’s the Reds at the Ramle Stadium at 12:40 on Matchday 4. Just ahead of the big contest, Head Coach Guy Tzarfati spoke about the match while we’ve also looked back at some of the Under-19 Derbies of the past.

Tzarfati has been a part of plenty of Derbies whether it’s been as a player in both the Youth Department and with the first team along with manning the sidelines as he did last campaign: “There’s always a great atmosphere and a lot of feelings surrounding the Derby and only those who have experienced it can understand. Derby matches are always interesting and there is always a desire to succeed which makes all of us even more focused on the task at hand. The player’s preparations have to be implemented during the actual match itself and I hope and believe that my squad will have a successful Derby and one that will be a wonderful experience.”

Under-19 Derbies of the past
Over the past ten years there have been 20 League Derbies. The record: 10 Maccabi wins, 4 draws, 6 losses. The Yellow & Blue have actually collected more points at away Derbies (18) than at home (16).

The biggest win belongs to Maccabi and occurred in the 2014/15 season when the Reds hosted the Derby at Bloomfield Stadium. Ziv Arie was the Head Coach and took the side to the championship. The final score was 4:0 in favor of the Yellow & Blue as Yonatan Cohen (x2), Stav Ben Aharon and Sohil Armeli scored.

Some of the top Derby goal scorers include:
Eylon Almog – The striker who now plays for Beitar Tel Aviv Ramle featured for the Under-19 squad between 2015-2018 and played in 6 Derbies while scoring 5 goals.

Yonatan Cohen – The striker played with the U19 side between 2013-2915 and scored 5 goals in 4 Derbies,

Gael Margulies – Was with Maccabi “Shachar” between 2011-2013 and scored 3 goals in 5 matches.

The most goals scored by a player in a single Derby is 2 and has been done by Yonatan Cohen (14/15), Dor Jan (13/14), Matan Hozez (13/14), Eliel Peretz (13/14).

The longest undefeated streak stands at 7 matches from 2009/10-2011/12. In 2010/11 the squad won the Double and beat their Tel Aviv rivals in the State Cup Round of 16. 2011/12 was also a successful campaign as the Yellow & Blue took home the league title.

Under current Head Coach Guy Tzarfati, the Under-19 side has a Derby record of 3 wins and a draw. Last season, the Yellow & Blue won 3:1 at home while the return leg was a 2:2 draw. Tomorrow, Maccabi “Shachar” will look to continue their positive momentum so far this season and write a new chapter in the history of the Tel Aviv Derby.

Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv – Hapoel “Nisanov” Tel Aviv, 12:40 Ramle (U19)
The Tel Aviv Derby is back as the Yellow & Blue Under-19 side host’s Hapoel on Matchday 4 of the Israel Youth Premier League. Last week, Maccabi was held to a goalless draw at Kiryat Shemona after winning their first two matches while the Reds picked up their first victory after a pair of losses.

* Tickets are limited for the Under-19 Derby on September 22 at the Ramle Stadium. Tickets will not be distributed on Matchday and fans without tickets will be turned away from the stadium.

SC Ashdod – Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv, 9:00 Ashdod 1 (U17)
First place Maccabi “Oded” heads to Ashdod for a top of the table contest on Matchday 4 and has a record of two wins and a draw. The host’s have the identical record and are in 3rd place.

Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv – Hapoel Raanana, 10:00 PenguinPickUp Training Ground Kiryat Shalom 1 (U16)
After an away win last week at Maccabi Herzliya, the Under-16 squad will host Hapoel Raanana on Matchday 4. The young Yellow & Blue come into the contest with two straight wins (3rd place) while Raanan is in 2nd with two wins and a draw.

Maccabi “Eldad” Tel Aviv – Bnei Yehuda, 8:30 PenguinPickUp Training Ground Kiryat Shalom Synthetic (U15)
Following last week’s 13:0 win last week over Beitar Tel Aviv Ramle in State Cup action, the Under-15 team welcome Bnei Yehuda for the “Little Derby” on the first Matchday of the season. Head Coach Ori David will look to march towards the championship just as he did last campaign.

Hapoel Kiryat Shemona 0:0 Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv (U19)
After a pair of wins to begin the season, the Under-19 side was held to a goalless daw at Kiryat Shemona on Matchday 3 of the Israel Youth Premier League. The Yellow & Blue missed a number of quality chances and couldn’t come back with the 3 points. For the full Match Report Click Here.

Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv 6:0 Hapoel Kiryat Shemona (U17)
The Under-17 squad picked up the win on Matchday 3 and moved into first place with 7 points. Goal scorers for Maccabi included, Shaked Navon (x2), Yonatan Imberg, Nehoray Bitton, Shachar Rosen and Tal Torjman. Head Coach Eliezer Ben Aharon summed up the victory: “Right from the start of the match the staff and players identified the weak points of Kiryat Shemona due to playing with 3 central defenders and we could have speed even more goals in the first half. The goals scored were quality strikes and a team effort. The squad is improving from match to match and the key point in this contest was that we didn’t concede a goal after giving up 6 over the last two matches. This shows the players that we can achieve our goals if we focus and put an emphasis on what we continue to learn. Next week, we play Ashdod and the goal is again to record a clean sheet and I believe if we don’t give up any goals we’ll win. Congratulations to everyone including those who didn’t dress and didn’t play, they’ve been true professionals.”

Maccabi Herzliya 0:3 Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv (U16)
After picking up a win last week over Hapoel Beer Sheva, the Under-16 side continued its positive momentum against Herzliya on Matchday 3. The young Yellow & Blue won their second match in a row and moved into 3rd place, just one point off the top of the table. The goal scorers included, Ener Oshmandi, Rotem Grama and Zin Shalata. Head Coach Eran Sassi spoke about the win: “This was a one sided game for us as the opponent didn’t even try to score and just defended their goal. It was difficult to break through their defense but we still were able to create some good scoring chances in the first half that didn’t result in any goals. However, we picked up the pace and made a number of substitutes in the second half which made all the difference in the match.”

Maccabi “Eldad” Tel Aviv 13:0 Beitar Tel Aviv Ramle (U15)
The Under-15 team got off to a good start as Ori David’s squad defeated the Ramle based side in the State Cup. The Yellow & Blue found the back of the goal 13 times while also recording a clean sheet. Goals scorers: Oskar Glok (x5), Adir Cordoba (x2), Ari Marnstein (x2), Roie Nawi (x2), Ben Gold and Orel Baia. David commented on the win: “This was a typical game in the early stages of the State Cup and after we scored the first goal the game opened up as the players did what they needed to and followed directions. I’m very content with that.”

After the International break, the young Yellow & Blue visited Kiryat Shemona on Matchday 3 of the Israel Youth Premier League. Maccabi came into the contest with two straight wins while the host’s had picked up 1 point in their matches. Head Coach Guy Tzarfati gave new recruit, Panamanian Eduardo Guerrero his first start.

Starting XI: Daniel Peretz, Michael Chilaka, Amit Glazer, Yoav Hofmayster, Tomer Mahluf, Tamir Glazer, Mufleh Shalata, Ido Shachar, Eduardo Guerrero, Omer Barami, Eyal Hen.

First Half
The Yellow & Blue took control of the contest from the outset and in the 10’ Hen sent a cross to Guerrero but Kiryat Shemona keeper Nadav Zamir made a quality save. Ten minutes later Shalata stole the ball from the host’s defense, went by a pair of players but at the last second Kiryat Shemona cleared the ball from danger. In the 28’ Tamir Glazer tried his luck from long distance but the ball went out while in the 42’ the host’s had a good chance to get on the board but Itzhak Danan’s opportunity from outside of the box couldn’t find the target.

Just before the break, a mistake by the Yellow & Blue led to Basel Shaban going one on one with Peretz, but Chilaka was able to help out the Maccabi keeper in time and cleared the threat as the side’s went into halftime goalless.

Second Half
The first 20 minutes of the second half was played primarily in the midfield as neither side had a chance on goal. In the 70’ Shalata received the ball on the left side, went by a defender and handed it off to Mahluf but his shot was saved while the Tal Yagudayev’s rebound chance went over the goal.

Maccabi continued to dictate the pace but couldn’t muster up many chances. In the 90’ the Yellow & Blue appeared to have scored, but the goal was determined to have been offside. Just before the final whistle, Rave Assayag’s header missed the target as the match ended in a 0:0 draw.

Hapoel Kiryat Shemona – Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv, 11:30 Kiryat Shemona (U19)
After opening up the season with a pair of victories, the Under-19 side will head to Kiryat Shemona on Matchday 3 of the Israel Youth Premier League. The Yellow & Blue will look to continue their positive momentum against a side who has earned 1 point to date.

Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv – Hapoel Kiryat Shemona, 10:30 PenguinPickUp Training Ground Kiryat Shalom 1 (U17)
The Under-17 squad will host Kiryat Shemona at the PenguinPickUp Training Ground at Kiryat Shalom on Matchday 3. The young Yellow & Blue have 4 points after their first two matches while the visitor’s have yet to pick up a point.

Maccabi Herzliya – Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv, 8:30 Herzliya Country Ran A Field (U16)
Following a win over Hapoel Beer Sheva last week, the Under-16 team will look to take the points at Herzliya on Matchday 3 as the host’s defeated Ironi Nesher last week.

After winning their domestic league championship last season, Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv, the Club’s Under-19 team took part in the UEFA Youth League draw. The young Yellow & Blue will face FC Anzhi Makhachkala from Russia in a two legged tie and should Guy Tzarfati’s squad advance they will play the winner of the match between Sigma Olomouc (CZE) v Maribor (SVN).

The first leg against Anzhi will take place in the city of Astrakhan on October 3rd, while the return leg will be played at the Ramle Stadium on October 24th. Should Maccabi advance the next round tie against either Sigma or Maribor will take place on November 7th away and on November 28th at home.

The Youth Department Director Guy Zukerman said: “It’s not a simple draw and it will be a difficult trip to get to the away match in Russia. From a professional side, I’m certain that we will be able to stand up to them and advance. In terms of the second draw should we advance, I’m sure that we will also be able to compete and continue to move along in the competition.”

“It’s always an incredible experience to be a part of the Champions League,” Zukerman continued. “I recall that when we participated in the group stages a few seasons ago, it was quite a wonderful experience. And now to be a part of a draw with some of the top youth departments in Europe, is also something extra special and gives us a tremendous amount of energy, respect and honor. I hope that we will also be able to honor the club with our performance on the pitch.”

Domestic Champions path guide

This path involves the domestic youth champions of the 32 best-ranked associations in the 2017 UEFA association coefficient rankings (the same rankings used to decide access to the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League).
Vacancies in the domestic champions path (because a club is instead eligible for the UEFA Champions League path, for example Atlético and Inter) are filled by the domestic youth champion of the next best-ranked association (in the above cases, Moldova and Iceland).
Chelsea, who won this competition in 2014/15 and 2015/16 but lost last season’s final to Barcelona, enter this path.
Two-time semi-finalists Anderlecht keep up their record of entering all six editions.
Debuts: AEL Limassol, Anji, Bohemians, FC Admira, Hamilton Academical, Hertha Berlin, Illés Akadémia, Lech Poznań, KR, Montpellier, Septemvri Sofia, Signa Olomouc, Žilina.

Road to Nyon

Play-offs
In the draw on 17 December, the eight Domestic Champions path survivors will be drawn at home to the eight UEFA Champions League path runners-up in one-off ties to be played on 12/13 February to decide the eight remaining round of 16 berths. The other eight places are taken by the UEFA Champions League path group winners.

Dates
Play-off draw: 17 December
Play-offs: 19/20 February
Knockout draw (round of 16 onwards): 22 February
Round of 16: 12/13 February
Quarter-finals: 2/3 April
Semi-final: 26 April, Nyon
Final: 29 April, Nyon