Hanbacher: the five biggest games of Barak Bacher in his European career - voila! sport

2022-08-03T11:23:57.053Z

The Haifa coach defined the victory over Olympiakos as the greatest in his European career, but a look back at his achievements reminds that the competition is tough

Hanbacher: the five biggest games of Barak Bacher in his European career

Motivational speeches that worked like magic, tactical brilliance and Israeli "insolence" that caused astonishment on the continent.

The Haifa coach defined the victory over Olympiakos as the greatest in his European career, but a look back at his achievements reminds us that the competition is tough.

Starting tonight (20:00, Sport2) he wants to write another exciting chapter

Shlomo Weiss

03/08/2022

Wednesday, 03 August 2022, 14:00

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Summary of Maccabi Haifa's 0:4 over Olympiakos in Greece (Sport1)

When the final whistle blew last week in Piraeus, Barak Bacher stood in front of the cameras and declared: "This is my biggest victory in Europe."

After a great foursome against the Greek champions in their warm home stadium, it's hard to argue with him.

But the truth is that in his relatively short career, the Maccabi Haifa coach recorded quite a few glorious moments in the European establishments.

Victories over great teams like Inter and Celtic, an impressive win on the way to the Champions League playoffs and even a historic draw against Southampton in a difficult away game that ensured qualification to the last 32 of the Europa League.

Ahead of Maccabi Haifa's important game tonight (Wednesday, 20:00, Sport2) against Apollon Limassol, in which Bacher will try to take another step forward towards the dream of the Champions League, we have selected his greatest victories.

At the dizzying pace at which Bacher sets records and successes, there is no doubt that the list will have to be updated very quickly.

Pretzel on the head.

Barak Bacher (Photo: Maor Alxalsi)

August 23, 2016: Hapoel Beer Sheva - Celtic 0:2

Becher reached the Champions League playoffs for the first time in his second season as coach of Hapoel Beer Sheva, after leading it to a historic championship.

After impressive victories in the early rounds over Sharif Tirspol and Olympiakos, Beer Sheva received the toughest draw it could and crossed paths with the Scottish luxury club.

The Reds came to the game in Glasgow too excited and suffered a 5:2 loss that left no real chance in the rematch.

Even before the opening whistle of the game at Turner, Bacher surprised his trainees and told them that he believed that today they would advance to the group stage of the Champions League.

Indeed, from the first moment it was clear that the unknown group from Israel had come to make history.

In the stands there was a sign of the audience with the inscription "Imagine", and the players did imagine - and almost came true.

Already in the 15th minute Beer Sheva received a penalty, but Mehran Radi missed it.

Later it was Ben Shahar who scored the first goal.

At the beginning of the second half, Ovidio Hoban scored the second, and the smell of sensation was felt in the air.

Unfortunately for Becher and Be'er Sheva, in the following minutes the players in red and white missed again and again and were left with the compliments, but without the long-awaited ticket to the group stage.

Despite the disappointment, the group mostly remained with the feeling that Bacher dares to dream - and knows why.

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Becker with Brendan Rodgers at the meeting between Beer Sheva and Celtic (Photo: Reuters)

September 15, 2016: Inter - Hapoel Beer Sheva 2:0

After the relegation against Celtic, Beer Sheva was drawn to a very attractive house in the Europa League, and the first game called for a meeting with the luxury team from Milan.

The Italians did not really attach importance to the opponent who came from the fourth tier, and the baldness in the stands at San Siro did not contribute to the atmosphere either.

In the meeting before the game, Bacher addressed his players in a typical motivational speech, telling them: "You have nothing to fear from Inter, you are all high-level players. If Bozgelo, Malikson, Tony (Wakma, S.W.) Ben (Shahar) or Miguel (Vitor) and basically every player He would have been born here as an Italian, he would have starred in Serie A today. Today you will prove it on the field."

One of the players who played in the team at the time recalls the game and says: "Inter expected us to defend, but Barak demanded that we attack. It surprised them a lot."

Bacher's preliminary speech turned out to be the absolute truth.

Beer Sheva stunned Inter with a strike goal by Miguel Vitor and a perfect free kick by Maor Bozaglo, and the next day all of Italy was talking about the sensation.

Bacher received a souvenir evening, which only strengthened the feeling that this is a coach at a European level for all intents and purposes.

He wasn't afraid to make statements in front of his players - not even on the hardest court.

Beer Sheva celebrates at San Siro (Photo: AP)

November 24, 2016: Hapoel Beer Sheva - Inter 2:3

If for the first match Inter arrived complacent, for the rematch she arrived with a strong desire to take revenge.

Both teams knew that a win would leave them with a chance to qualify for the next round of the Europa League and the Italians arrived more determined than ever - but Becher and his players had other plans.

The first half was still under the control of the guests and it seemed that Becher's trainees were on their way to ending the heroic campaign.

Mauro Icardi and Marcelo Brozovic brought Inter down to the break with a 0:2 advantage, and then came another great moment for Bacher in the dressing room, away from the cameras.

"After the game in San Siro, all of Italy was talking about you. A turnaround will make all of Europe talk about you," he told his players, and gave the signal to one of the biggest halves of an Israeli team in Europe.

Lucio Zimek, Tony Wakama equalized from the penalty spot, but Beer Sheva was not satisfied with a draw.

In the extra time came a tremendous team move, at the end of which Muhammad Gadir left a huge ball with the heel to Ben Shahar, who did not get confused and set up a turnaround that fulfilled another prophecy for Bacher - the next day they were indeed talking all over the continent about the comeback and the sensation.

"It was the biggest game of an Israeli team in Europe after many years," recalls Beer Sheva.

"Barak said that the victory over Olympiakos was his greatest, but in the eyes of many, this game at least compares to it."

The prophecy fulfilled itself.

Bacher after the famous 2:3 (Photo: Barney Ardov)

July 26, 2017: Hapoel Beer Sheva - Ludogorets 0:2

After the tremendous European success the previous season, Beer Sheva and Bakr dreamed of a group stage in the Champions League.

The third round draw called for a meeting with the champion of Bulgaria, who was marked as a favorite, and few bet on the team from the Negev capital.

Ludogorets was at her peak then, with a cadre of formidable foreigners and impressive achievements that tipped the scales in her favor.

Bacher knew that the away game against the Bulgarians would be very difficult, and bet the whole pot on Turner.

With the help of the enthusiastic crowd, Beer Sheva made a blitz.

In the first half, Tony Wakama scored and Maor Malikson did everything he could.

Malikson was replaced at halftime due to an injury, but the Beer Sheva defense continued to do its job, and in the 80th minute doubled the advantage from Michael Ohana's possession.

In retrospect, the impressive victory was enough for Beer Sheva to advance to the playoffs, when a critical away goal by Mohammad Gadir helped the team lose only 3:1 and qualify.

Bacher showed that besides motivational speeches that work like magic, he is also a tactician with supreme grace.

The bet worked.

Michael Ohana celebrates in the game in question (Photo: Barney Ardov)

September 24, 2020: Rostov - Maccabi Haifa 2:1

The goal in Becher's first season in Haifa was first of all to return the championship to Carmel.

Even before that, in the midst of the Corona season, Haifa played in the European League qualifiers and no one really thought that the team that is in the first stages of formation could achieve a real achievement.

This was not an issue for Bacher, and he was determined to bring Haifa into the European housing complex immediately.

In the third round, Haifa was drawn against Russian Rostov, and the difficulty was doubly great due to the decision method established due to the constraints of the Corona virus.

The meeting was actually decided in only one game on Russian soil, and Haifa came to it as a distinct underdog.

Watch the summary of the 1:2 of Haifa in Russia

Summary of Maccabi Haifa's victory over Rostov (Sport1)

Already in the first minutes, the Russians took the lead and it seemed that Haifa would lose, but then the Greens woke up and in a heroic display completed a turnaround with goals from Nikita Rukavitsia and Muhammad Abu Fani.

"It was a tremendous game, where we realized that if we strengthened ourselves properly we could do beautiful things in Europe as well," recalled one of Haifa's players at the time.

In the playoff stage, the deadly Tottenham awaited, who knocked out the Greens with ease, but Bacher met the goal he set for himself and again provided receipts abroad.

Now he wants to reach new heights with Haifa. After marking V against several super teams, neither Apollon Limassol nor even Red Star Belgrade look like an insurmountable barrier.

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