Premier League summary: Maccabi Haifa - Maccabi Netanya 1:4 (Sport1)
Everything is forgotten in the current Maccabi Haifa - even if it is racing towards a third championship in a row, even when it is on its way to make history and become the first Israeli team to win a title in the season in which it reaches the group stage of the Champions League.
The popular opinion about Haifa's quality advantage over its rivals has placed it in a position where only it has something to lose.
Any championship that is not green will be considered a failure.
And together with the hype of the last few weeks and the headlines about Barak Bacher's move abroad, the pressure gauge took on a monstrous dimension. The Greens somehow managed to get through it safely as well.
"There are reports all the time, it's easy because it makes me work harder," Bacher said at the end, referring to the rumors and speculations regarding his future.
"I know that if there are bad results, they will talk about the fact that my head is not here. It doesn't bother me one bit, we do everything in the best way."
Bachar said it very gently.
With the reports linking him to Red Star, Olympiakos and Celtic in the background, he knows that any less good result was on his head.
It was not far off for this to happen against Hapoel Beer Sheva at home, against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Bloomfield and also yesterday (Saturday) in a 1:4 victory over Maccabi Netanya.
These were three games that could have ended differently and hurt the chances of the third championship, and the arrows were directed only at the coach, and he knew it.
Beyond that, it's a different kind of pressure that could also turn a team around in the last part of the season and change the whole picture, but for now no one is letting that happen.
Eyes on the target.
Bacher and the team celebrate (Photo: Barney Ardov)
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If in Becher's first championship in Haifa, the team took the monkey off their back, this season they are lifting the monkey on their shoulders.
This time it is a completely different story.
Even when Bacher explains that everyone is committed, his players are on the last gas fumes of the current season, scraping what they have to complete the task.
It's not that Bacher is so eager to line up with one midfielder, but the situation requires him to bet on something less conventional, such that even in games with situations for both sides his team will score more.
If Patrick Tovmasi scores Netanya's second at the beginning of the second half, the whole game would look different, but when you choose to gamble, you are also aware of the possible consequences.
Becher completed the turnaround yesterday without substitutions at halftime, with an all-in that might have changed if the team didn't equalize in the 55th minute when Netanya was more dangerous.
But Bacher also goes with the momentum of the home stadium.
Regardless of the situation, the feeling is that the change will come automatically - the audience is sure of it, the players as well and probably the professional staff as well.
If Becher said at the end that yesterday's lineup of the team is worth at least 2-3 goals, that means everything.
It was the Greens' sixth upset of the season.
They scored far more points from behind than any other team in the league.
With 37 goals in the second half compared to 22 in the first, you can define the current Haifa as the comeback team.
She took 46 points at home out of 48 (96 percent success).
That's a league record pace.
Becher said at the end that he told the players at halftime that they were arrogant in their game.
Muhammad Abu Fani said about this: "We started the game excellently, we got into situations, but as soon as we got the goal it took us back and we started gambling. The break did us good, we relaxed in the dressing room, Barak gave a briefing and we left knowing that this is a critical game on the way to the championship and we succeeded in it." .
"Finds ways to contribute even when he's passed out."
Abu Fani (Photo: Barney Ardov)
Bakr was asked about the courage to start with Abu Fani as a single midfielder and answered: "Once there are guys like that, with whom you can play offensively but everyone will be committed and give 100%, I don't need to be brave, there is the confidence to do it. Abu Fanny can play both as a 6 and as an 8, even when he is on the verge of fainting, he will always find the strength to help the team."
Abu Fani was asked how it feels to start as a single midfielder and answered: "We don't mess with it, everyone is afraid for their place, there is great competition and it's fun, it keeps everyone tense. Even the so-called offensive players like Sherry and Dia don't stop running, they run even more from me in certain games and working for the team. It's fun for all of us."
About fasting in Ramadan he said: "Fasting is quite difficult, I personally get up at 4 in the morning to eat before the start of the fast, it obviously interferes with sleep, as well as concentration, you also come to the game hungry and thirsty. It is difficult and challenging, but I think that fasting makes It's good for us. At least I get stronger from these things."
Regarding Barak Becher and the offers from abroad, it seems that the terms with the Red Star are closed but not yet signed. The club is still talking about the possibility that the coach will receive a tempting offer from Yankel'e Shahar that would keep him at the club, but at the moment it seems that the most likely chance is that he will leave at the end of the season. Dolev Haziza He received a fifth yellow card and will be absent against MS Ashdod.
sport
Israeli soccer
Super League
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Maccabi Haifa
Barak Bacher