For the sixth time in the history of the Champions League, an Israeli team will participate in the group stage of the competition. Maccabi Haifa, who has been there twice (02/03 and 09/10), will represent the Asian country that has been part of UEFA since 1991 due to the known political problems in the region, and SL Benfica Stadium will be the return of the organizing UEFA. “Greens” to the world’s premier club competition. In a particularly complicated group (besides the Reds they face Paris SG and Juventus), the Israelis are unlikely to put in an unprecedented feat – never has a local team managed to reach the round of 16 in the five previous entries – despite the Haifa team counting in their record with a historic triumph, then 3-0, over Manchester United in their debut season (which also saw them beating Olympiacos from Greece).
Benfica is 100% favorite for Tuesday’s game, that’s how big the difference in power between the teams is. An idea that Orlando Sá, a former Portuguese international who played in Israel for Maccabi Tel Aviv (18 games, three goals and two assists), fully endorses DN.
“I’m looking forward to a game where Benfica is clearly the favorite, especially now that the market is closing. If it was ahead, with the reinforcements it got, it’s even more favorite because I think the goal is to be in the top to stay.” two positions and proceed to the next stage. Maccabi will clearly be the outsider, even if it is the club in Israel that has grown the most in terms of organization and quality in recent years,” says the former striker.
The work of Gal Alberman, the current sporting director, has contributed greatly to this. “He was my colleague at Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he was one of the team captains. He is a leader and he knows very well what the requirements are for a team to be in this kind of competition … two teams are incomparable – to not to mention the other clubs in the group – even though we know that there are no easy competitions these days,” said Orlando Sá, who after finishing his career started with the management of athletes, as well as a “little leg” doing as a commentator for Eleven Sports, “a personal challenge”, which serves to “share a bit of the knowledge” I have gained during a career that has gone through many countries. “Sometimes I even forget one,” he laughs.
Israel’s Mourinho
If the first leg in Lisbon is in theory a challenge that the Reds will overcome without major problems, Orlando Sá warns of the difficulties that Benfica may encounter during the trip to Haifa (and the Lisbon club has already had an unpleasant experience in Tel. Aviv, when they lost 0-3 to local Hapoel), “because of the atmosphere in the stadium of a club that has not been in the group stage for years”: “The enthusiasm, because it is the first time in the past decade that the club gets this chance will have to be thwarted by a good Benfica”.
Another of the architects of the Maccabi Haifa revival is the coach, Barak Bakhar. “He is a coach who plays modern football, he knows how to adapt his teams to his opponents. When I was there he played in 4x3x3, although defending the team changed to 4x4x2. He led Hapoel Be’er Sheva to the golden years of the club and even became champion twice. He is very sought after and with a lot of name in Israel, we can even compare him with Jose Mourinho when he appears at FC Porto, he is the Israeli Jose Mourinho,” said the former player , adding: “He is way ahead of the others in terms of sporting results, what he has achieved in the last two clubs speaks for itself and is not for everyone. I remember that he prepared his teams very well.”
For Orlando Sá, “Maccabi Haifa’s biggest weakness is the lack of experience of the players in competitions of this level”, and they argue that “Benfica does not know the Israeli reality very well”.
Miguel Vítor and growth
Last weekend Maccabi Haifa won 2-1 in a match against Ligat ha’Al, where, like Benfica in Portugal, they took a 100% victory after three rounds. Curiously enough, the opponent was Hapoel Be’er Sheva, the former club of the coach and where in his seventh season the Portuguese, now naturalized (and international) Israeli, Miguel Vítor (and also André Martins) pontificates. A reference that Orlando Sá likes to praise: “He arrived in Maccabi Tel Aviv the year after I was there and since then he has had an incredible journey. Sometimes, around here, we should praise what Portuguese players are doing abroad And the Miguel Vítor deserves this recognition.”
As for the quality of football in Israel, where names such as Adrien Silva, Ricardo Fernandes or Rúben Micael have played, the former goalscorer believes that he has evolved in recent years, but with a problem: “There is a better organization and players, but their growth is limited by the limited number of foreign players that clubs can sign [atualmente são seis, sendo que só podem jogar cinco ao mesmo tempo]. Without them, who add quality, name to the competition and visibility, there will always be a limitation. While the League does not have the visibility of other peripheral championships, it is a highly competitive league and the Israeli player is a quality player, even if he is not the most regulated, disciplined or professional devoted. So players with a different mentality are needed. But there is a lot of competition between clubs. And if it wasn’t for that quality, clubs wouldn’t be able to get through the knockout stage and reach the group stage in European competitions.”
Either way, Orlando Sá doesn’t regret being there. “I loved life in Israel and my wife even more. At that time I was there with my daughters, who studied there and really liked the country. Contrary to what people think, Tel Aviv is an extremely safe city, I almost say European Gal also speaks to me well about Haifa I have adapted perfectly Tel Aviv is an incredible city and I recommend the Portuguese to get to know it The language is another story. [risos]”I didn’t even try to speak Hebrew, which together with Chinese must be the most difficult language in the world,” he concludes.
Either way, Orlando Sá doesn’t regret being there. “I loved life in Israel and my wife even more. At that time I was there with my daughters, who studied there and really liked the country. Contrary to what people think, Tel Aviv is an extremely safe city, I almost say European Gal also speaks to me well about Haifa I have adapted perfectly Tel Aviv is an incredible city and I recommend the Portuguese to get to know it The language is another story. [risos]”I didn’t even try to speak Hebrew, which together with Chinese must be the most difficult language in the world,” he concludes.
Source: DN
