"We worked all year for the home advantage, so let's use it"
Coach Aleksandar Dzikic is ready. Oz Blayzer: "You have to play the game, not the event. We have already proven that we are made of the right stuff."
The big moment has arrived: when the stands of the arena will be filled with more than 11,000 thousand reds, Hapoel "Bank Yahav" Jerusalem will host AAK Athens tonight in the third and decisive game in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. A victory will guarantee the Reds a ticket to the Final Four for the first time since moving to the factory in 2018.
The coach of the team, Alexander Dzikic, said yesterday in the final training session: "As a coach, I have already experienced games in front of full halls, as a host and as a guest. It can go in all kinds of directions, you never know how it will affect them or us. It's great to have our fans there to support us. Some players play better in front of a full house, even if it's hostile, it's all a matter of experience. My demand from the players is to concentrate on what is happening on the floor."
About what is expected at the professional level, Dzikic said: "The previous two games in the series were different, and of course we would like to approach the first game with the same energy and the same focus. We have to understand what they want to do on both sides of the field, and we won't go easy on them. We worked all season for this home advantage, and let's try to use it."
Captain Itay Segev said: "We are very focused, we trained aggressively these days to simulate what is expected of us tonight. I am happy that the arena will be full, and our job is to concentrate on what is happening on the field. The energies that will be here will lift us up, certainly on the aggressive side, and if we manage to do it, then the result will be in our favor."
Oz Blazer added: "Everyone is in good spirits, there will be 11,000 people and a full hall, and we as players are waiting for these games. Everyone understands the meaning of a victory, and there is a Final Four. You have to come prepared, not play the event, but play the game. We don't feel pressure, we have already won all-or-nothing games this year and proved that we are made of the right stuff."
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