Beitar Jerusalem completed its preparations ahead of Thursday’s second-leg match at Austria Wein in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League after rthe first leg saw the yellow-and-black fall 2-1 as they will look to comeback and advance to the Playoff Round.

Head Coach Almog Cohen and striker Shon Weissman spoke about the preparations for the match, the fixture congestion and the keys to the game, “I think the key points for us are to be very stable in possession, especially in European matches and to make as few mistakes as possible. We saw that every mistake we made resulted in a chance for them.”

On the team’s preparations and what they learned from the first leg, the coach added, “We watched the game several times and also showed it to the players. We held several meetings about Austria Wein. We will come very well prepared and we have a lot of belief in ourselves. God willing, we want to win here and advance to the next round.”

Cohen also addressed dealing with the fixture congestion at the start of the season with European matches along with Toto Cup and Israeli League games as well, “We are managing the workload very, very carefully in every aspect and we will continue to do so. At the end of the day, we want all of our players to be fit and healthy throughout the entire season. That is the most important thing for me.”

Weissman, who previously played in Austria, spoke about his return to Vienna, “Honestly, it’s great as I played here just two months ago, so it’s cool to come back here, especially with an Israeli team and wearing the Beitar kit. I’m very happy and hope we come here, fix what we need to from last week and get the job done.”

On the team’s performance and the lessons from the first meeting, the striker said, “I think we showed, especially in the first half, that we are a quality, good team that can win every game. As Almog said, we watched the game several times and I believe we will learn and take the lessons from it. We’ll see that Thursday. We need to come with intensity, be as focused and united as possible and finish the job.”

Weissman also addressed the unusual period Beitar is going through, which includes many matches outside Israel, “I came back to Israel thinking I would be in the country more, but so far we’ve been abroad more than we’ve been in Israel. It’s not easy, especially when we don’t have Teddy Stadium and everyone knows how important Teddy is to the team.”

Despite the difficulties, the striker emphasized how the team is handling the situation, “We are managing it incredibly well with the staff, both in training and in the games. I’m sure all the players know what is expected of them and are ready to step up when their turn comes and do the job.”