Miller: "We silenced the crowd through our football. The goal last week was critical"

Despite a great performance this evening (Thursday) on Bulgarian soil, Maccabi Tel Aviv was eliminated from the Europa League qualifiers and will continue its path in the Conference League playoffs. The Yellows won 3:1 against CSKA Sofia, but lost 4:3 on aggregate following the 3:0 defeat last week in Batumi. To ensure a hot winter in Europe, Maccabi Tel Aviv must now overcome Lugano in the playoff round, with the first leg in Switzerland next Thursday and the return leg hosted by the Cup holder in Georgia in two weeks.

Even before Lugano, Maccabi Tel Aviv will return to Israel and visit Maccabi Netanya in the Toto Cup semi-final on Sunday (20:00, Sport4).

Coach Kenny Miller summarized:

"I am pleased with our performance tonight. We arrived here with the belief that we could win the game and qualify for the next stage. We were very close, and it just shows how critical the goal we conceded last week was. Despite the deficit we arrived with, we kept believing and proved tonight that when we play at our level, stick to the game plan and do the right things - we are a very good team."

On what decided the fate of the tie:

"We were not surprised by the opponent, we were prepared and knew them well. The problem was that last week we were below our usual level and were punished for mistakes. If you examine the four goals we conceded over the two legs, we had a hand in each of them - turnovers or lack of concentration in basic actions. At these levels, you get punished for such mistakes. But tonight we were the dominant team."

On the hot atmosphere:

"Football is a game of passion and we knew there would be strong energy from the stands here. As an away team in such an environment, our goal was to silence the crowd through our football, and that is what we did. This energy even charged us and we kept fighting until the final whistle."

Ahead of Lugano he said:

"The work towards the Conference League playoffs starts right now. Our main goal is to play in a European group stage this season, and we will prepare in the best way possible to arrive ready for the match next week and achieve the result that will take us to the next stage."