Zarko Lazetic: Maccabi left with ‘nothing to do’ after early arrival at Villa

Maccabi Tel Aviv manager Zarko Lazetic revealed his side were forced to arrive at Villa Park five hours early for their highly charged Europa League clash with Aston Villa.

The league phase match at Villa Park, which the hosts won 2-0, became a major political event after the Israeli club’s supporters were banned from attending due to fears over their safety.

More than 700 police officers were deployed amid a huge security operation, which involved police horses, police dogs and a drone unit ahead of planned pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests.

And six arrests were made before kick-off, three of which were on suspicion of racially aggravated offences.

And Lazetic said his side were left twiddling their thumbs after being told by local police to arrive at the stadium at 3pm.

“It was not normal,” the Serbian said after goals from Ian Maatsen and Donyell Malen downed his side. “Sitting… nothing to do. (We came) five hours before the match.

“It was very difficult. It was not our decision.”

A goal in either half from Dutch duo Maatsen and Malen, who scored from the spot, saw them earn victory which boosts their chances of qualifying for the knockout stages automatically.

At the halfway point in the league phase they sit sixth in the table, with games against Young Boys, Basel, Fenerbahce and Salzburg still to come.

Villa boss Unai Emery was again protected from facing questions on the non-football issues surrounding the match.

But on the game he said: “Finishing the match I am happy, I am not happy with the performance, but I understand the difficulties we have and we will face for the next match.

“We conceded more chances than we planned and we made some mistakes but overall in 90 minutes we dominated, we played with a good result in front and we managed the match and doing some management as well with the players to try to get good balance.

“We used our passion and our experience in Europe. Here at home in the Conference League two years ago, we have the experience and try to understand the difficulties.

“Do not be frustrated, try and use it to be passionate. It was coming in the second half.”