There’s nothing better than a big Israeli soccer game and we’re about to get on Monday night (20:30) when Beitar Jerusalem visit Maccabi Haifa at a sold out Sammy Ofer Stadium. The yellow-and-black have been the darlings of the league and find themselves in second place with a chance to cut the gap to just a pair of points to table leaders Hapoel Beer Sheva fate the southern reds were shocked at Tiberias 3-0.

For the Greens, they started to pick up the pace with a trio of wins in a row and will look to add another 3-points into the bank as they slowly but surely continue to climb the standings. It’s been a tough season for Haifa who began the campaign with Argentine bench boss Diego Flores in charge but due to a disappointing start brought back Barak Bachar for his third stint with the club.

But Bachar is well aware that Barak Itzhaki’s side will not only bring one of the best if not the best attacks in the league and will have a packed away stand with close to 3,000 Beitar fans. That’s never going to be an easy task to say the least.

“It will be a big match against a good team in momentum, in front of a full stadium. You have to enjoy the atmosphere and the game itself,” Bachar said. “Beitar are the most quality team in the league. We’re aware of that. We believe that if we do things right, it will be harder for Beitar. I hope all of their players would play and I really believe in what we have on our team. You need to win the game on the pitch.”

Beitar has had a wonderful season and has collected points in every which way be it from pouring in the goals to just slipping by a team like Bnei Sakhnin last week with a second half injury time winner by Adi Yona. However, it’s unclear if Yona who has a brace in that game and has been stellar all season long will play due to illness and the same is true with Grigori Morozov and captain Yarden Shua. But even if Shua and Yona are unavailable, Itzhaki has plenty of tools to use from Omer Atzily, Johnbosco Kalu and Timoti Muzie.

“What is for sure is that we will have 11 players on the pitch,” Itzhaki said. “We have another day and a half and we will have a squad on the pitch despite their illnesses and injuries. I don’t want to give out too many details and we will see how they are tomorrow. We are doing the best that we can and we are preparing for this game which is a very tough one against Maccabi Haifa at Sammy Ofer Stadium.”

On the other side of the pitch, Haifa will be without two of their top defenders in Abdoulaye Seck who is playing with Senegal at the African Nations Cup as well as Jelle Bataille who is out due to yellow card accumulation which could allow Beitar’s shifty attack the chance to easily breakthrough the green’s backline and have a field day on offense.

On the other hand, Guy Melamed has been lethal in front with a slew of goals over the past few games as he has finally (?) found favor in Barak Bachar’s eyes and is the main focus of their attack in the box.

“It doesn’t matter who’s missing,” Bachar explained. “The team is going through a process, and it’s reflected in the results,” Bachar continued. “This is our opportunity to keep progressing. Clearly a match like this has significance when you’re playing against one of the two top teams in the league. That doesn’t mean it will be harder as sometimes it’s harder to play against teams fighting for their lives. Against Beitar, the games are usually wide open.”

Over at Beitar, Itzhaki is more concerned about his own team that the one he is going to be playing against, “We are focusing on our team and not theirs. There is no guarantee as to how they will come in to play. We’re prepared for any scenario and even if they have players that are missing or other players that are in good shape we have to be ready.”

Itzhaki may try to brush off the expectations and the chance to pull to within just 2-points from Beer Sheva after their loss to Tiberias at Green Stadium, the same place where Beitar smashed the Kineret based side 5-0 and will play there once again on Saturday night in Israel State Cup play. But there is no question that in his heart of hearts he wants to do the best he can to cut down the lead and give his team the opportunity to battle for the title all season long.

“Beer Sheva’s loss to Tiberias? I’m not focused on what’s happening in the rest of the league. Of course we hear and see what’s going on, but as I said, we’re focusing on ourselves.”

At the end of the day, Itzhaki who once upon a time scored one of the all-time great goals with a bicycle kick against the Greens over a decade ago, (“Sometimes I forget about it; people on the street remember it more than I do—especially Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, who always remind me of it. Other than that, I don’t focus on it much; I focus on coming in and doing the job tomorrow as a team,” Itzhaki told The Sports Rabbi about the goal), will have the best support any head coach could want when it comes to playing at a difficult venue such as Sammy Ofer Stadium, although they recently defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv at the facility to capture the Toto Cup back in October as the fans put on a tremendous show for all to see.

“The feeling is great to have such supporters. They’re everywhere. Monday as well, even though they’ll be a minority, I’m sure they’ll be heard in a significant way. They support us everywhere and it’s always fun when the stadium is full.”