Cruyff wary ahead of Maccabi Tel Aviv Champions League clash

Maccabi Tel Aviv sports director Jordi Cruyff says his side still have it all to do in tonight’s second leg if they’re to beat Basel and book their place in the group stage of the Champions League.

The Israeli champions host the Swiss side tonight, having recorded a superb 2-2 draw in last week’s first leg.

Cruyff said: “It’s a game of 180 minutes and only 90 minutes have passed. I think Basel showed why they are the favorites. We just fought with everything we got and got an amazing result in the end. Their results from recent years don’t lie and I still think they are the favorites. The moment we think we are the favorites is the moment we will lose 100 percent.”

Captain Eran Zahavi was the hero for Maccabi last week, scoring twice – including an injury time equaliser – and will be looking for more inspiration from him tonight. Cruyff added: “Maccabi Tel Aviv needs to play an amazing and fantastic game to beat Basel. You can see the positive side that we got a good result in the first leg, and you can see the negative side that we played five times against Basel and never won. Arrogance is our biggest enemy and we need to fight like animals and hope that the stars align in our favour.”