Maccabi Tel Aviv welcomes Red Star Belgrade top Pionir Arena on Thursday (21:05 Israel time) for a Euroleague clash where the yellow-and-blue will face a former coach as well as look to get back onto the winning track. Head Coach Oded Katash’s team sits in 17th place with a 5-17 record while Iaonnis Sfairopoulos’s team find themselves in 6th place with a 13-9 record as they will no doubt look to improve on their fine season.

With Maccabi playing their home games in Belgrade, there is no question that local supporters of Red Star will want to see their team, especially in the hallowed Pionir Arena, the club’s original home where they still maintain offices to this day and while Katash’s crew have been travelling week after week to Serbia, it’s still a huge challenge for the entire club.

“We are here in Belgrade every week and it’s still something that is tough and difficult for us every single time. We all experience this phenomenon both physically and mentally, but we have to try to keep our heads high. This is supposed to be a home game, but we are in Belgrade and there will probably be local fans, no matter how we will try to enforce it and against a good team that’s in good shape, with a lot of qualities and excellent players that’s going to be our challenge. We had a relatively good practice session and we managed to get a number in this past week and we hope to see the results of that on the court.”

Levi Randolph also spoke about what Maccabi needs to keep doing, “We need to keep working. We understand what’s ahead of us, it’s been a difficult schedule for us but there are no excuses. We need one win to get the ball rolling and gain momentum and confidence. We’ve shown spurts and every day is a new day, we need to continue to get better and work together.”

“This is the schedule that we are accustomed to this year and it has its challenges,” Maccabi captain John Dibartolomeo said.” We have another challenge in Red Star who have been playing really well lately, it will be a tough one. It’s difficult [not to play at home] and there are some good and bad moments and it’s hard to get your feet under you with all of the travel and the games. It’s another challenge for us and we do our best as to what we can control, a lot of which is outside our control. At the end of the day this is our job and what we love to do and we hope it will be under different circumstances but it’s our job and we have to compete.”

Randolph chimed in about the lack of home games, “It’s odd not to have any home games and it seems all teams get the opportunity to play in their home arena and play in front of their fans, it’s a chance for teams to rest and practice. We don’t have that privilege, that’s the hand that we have been dealt and make the most of it, continue to play, work and get better. There are a million excuses you can make, but the name of the game is to keep going and try your best.”

In terms of the reality that the country has experienced since October 7th, hostages are now beginning to be released and are returning home to their loved ones including Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher which is something Dibartolomeo was super excited to be witnessing first hand.

“It was a wild experience and it’s hard to believe it’s real. I was watching the news as it was unfolding and I was sending pictures to people back home. It didn’t feel like it was something real, it was something you see in the movies that you don’t expect to happen this way. I am so happy to see that they came home and more on the way.