On the day that Maccabi Haifa was drawn in the home stage of the Conference League with Slavia Prague, Union Berlin and Feyenoord, the team players joked in conversations between them about the "House of Death" to which they were placed.
Dolev Haziza called it "the home of the Champions League";
Brakeman Rami Gershon, who moved to the Belgian league, made it clear that the players were going to have a great experience, and all in all, the desire was to "be in the picture until the end", according to the players.
Still, Haifa has not played in a European home stage since 2014. It lacks ranking points or experience, but on the face of it the champion has stood its ground so far.
Coach Barak Bachar sat at the press conference and talked about the chances of advancing to the next stage.
"Hopefully this is not our last home game in the Conference League. We'll have to beat Union, and then things are up to us."
San Menachem and behind him Union players are celebrating.
This time it will end differently ?, Photo: AP
This is exactly what Bachar has been trying to do since his team returned from the break.
"He believes there is a real chance to go up, and home photos show he is right," the club said. "A win over Union will leave us in a dream until the last minute, and it will be an achievement in such a difficult home. .
In any case, Haifa will arrive more mature in the future.
For the first time in years she will also have ranking points, which will help her in the first round, but to return and be a permanent member of the European factories there is still a long way to go.
In the audience segment, they seem to believe that anything is possible.
To see: About 24-23 thousand spectators are expected to come to Sami Ofer for a game against the team from the Bundesliga.
Maccabi Haifa fans.
24,000 are expected to arrive, Photo: Maor Elkelsi
Bachar will join the "Mirror" lineup for Union.
He is expected to start with three brakes, with Bogdan Planic, Ofri Arad and Sean Goldberg playing together.
Taleb Twataha will play in place of San Menachem, who will be absent due to the accumulation of yellow cards.
In the front Bachar will play with two strikers, most likely Ben Shehar and Dean David.
Noble Omar is not trained in the team, while in Haifa they are aware of the crowded sequence of games that awaits them (in Rishon Hapoel Tel Aviv, and next Thursday in a derby).
"We really believe we can win and be good from the previous game against Union," Bachar concluded.
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