The positive side of Maccabi Tel Aviv's narrow victory and the inviting facility in Batumi
The "Yellows" realize they will need to raise their level to ensure a European season: "There is enough material to work on." The club is satisfied with the new home, while the search for new foreign players continues.
Maccabi Tel Aviv is satisfied after completing its mission yesterday (Thursday) in Batumi with a 1:0 victory over Sheriff Tiraspol, which advanced the team to the third qualifying round of the Europa League. However, the club realizes that the level must be raised to ensure a successful European season. Unlike the first game, the State Cup holder struggled to score yesterday and settled for a single goal from a set piece by Roy Revivo, who benefited from a lapse in the Sheriff defense. Ultimately, the club knows that the difficulties faced can serve as a valuable lesson ahead of the matches against CSKA Sofia in the third round of the Europa League.
"We have things to work on. There is enough material to work on ahead of the third round, which is very significant. A victory over the Bulgarians will guarantee us at least the Conference League, so Kenny Miller will have enough material to work on, especially in the front third, where we should have been much higher quality and scored more than one goal against Sheriff. Sometimes it is better to come out with a narrow victory, but with enough things to work on ahead of the next games," sources in the club said yesterday.
In the first game, everything went well for the Israeli State Cup holder as they scored five goals. Yesterday, perhaps because the first game was relatively easy, it was harder for Maccabi Tel Aviv, which will return to Batumi next Thursday to host CSKA Sofia.
Yesterday marked the first "baptism of fire" for Maccabi Tel Aviv at the facility in Batumi, following the move from Backa Topola. Close to a thousand fans arrived and enjoyed the excellent venue. A source at Maccabi Tel Aviv said: "We must ensure a European season. There is a stadium here that the fans will enjoy. It was the right choice, and after experiencing it in the first game, we must secure a European season."
Maccabi Tel Aviv will study CSKA Sofia, which failed to score in two games against Qarabag and advanced yesterday only on penalties. On one hand, it is good news that Sofia is struggling to score. On the other hand, they also did not concede, which teaches that Maccabi Tel Aviv will have to work hard to score and be much higher quality than they were yesterday in order to advance to the Europa League playoffs.
Yesterday's game was also the first in which Elieu Varela started. He shook off some rust, but it is clear to everyone that if he stays and is not sold, he will bring a lot of explosive power and elements that can make the difference. Meanwhile, the "Yellows" will continue to look for a foreign winger for the right side, following the departure of Amir Saiti.
Alongside the attempts to reach the Europa League through the qualifiers, Maccabi Tel Aviv will continue contacts to add foreign players, depending on who will eventually be sold. For example, Tyrese Asante did not travel with the team to Georgia because he was feeling unwell. He has offers from Italy, but Maccabi Tel Aviv is not yet ready to sell for the amounts around three million euros currently being offered.
