Hapoel Be'er Sheva touched down in Bucharest on Monday, the first step of a trip that could carry the club into the Champions League proper for the first time in its history. ONE reports that more than 900 supporters are expected to follow the team to Romania for Wednesday's playoff-round first leg against Sabah FC of Azerbaijan.
It is technically a home fixture for the Israeli champions, but one they cannot play at home. With Israeli clubs barred from hosting UEFA ties on home soil this season because of the security situation, Hapoel Be'er Sheva have relocated their continental games to the Superbet Arena-Giulești, the Bucharest ground of Liga 1 side Rapid Bucharest — and it is there that Wednesday's match kicks off at 22:00 Israel time.
The prize for winning the tie is enormous: a place in the Champions League league phase for the first time in the club's history, guaranteeing at least four more European nights at their adopted Bucharest home. Lose, and Hapoel Be'er Sheva drop into the Europa League league phase instead — still a significant consolation, but a considerable step down from Europe's top table.
They have come this far by producing one of the qualifying rounds' bigger shocks. Hapoel Be'er Sheva eliminated Red Star Belgrade 3-0 on aggregate in the third qualifying round, winning 2-0 away in Belgrade to seal the tie after a first-leg lead at home.
Sabah, for their part, arrive in Bucharest off the back of their own statement win, seeing off Danish champions Aarhus 5-2 on aggregate, a tie they closed out with a 4-0 victory in the second leg.
Manager Ran Kojok has fresh options to work with. Forward Yonas Malede completed his move from Maccabi Tel Aviv in time to be registered for the tie, while defender Matan Baltaxa returns from suspension and is available for selection again after missing the win over Red Star.
According to ONE, the coaching staff's working plan is to stick largely with the XI that saw off the Serbian side, rather than make wholesale changes for what amounts to the biggest match of the club's season so far. Two training sessions were scheduled in Romania — one on Monday evening shortly after landing, and a final run-out on Tuesday before kickoff.
The travelling support is the story that gives this build-up its edge. Well over 900 Hapoel Be'er Sheva fans making the trip to a stadium several thousand kilometres from Be'er Sheva is a striking number for what is, on paper, an away leg for everyone but the club itself — and it points to just how much significance the fanbase is attaching to this tie.
The return leg follows quickly, in Azerbaijan on Tuesday, August 25. Two matches now stand between Hapoel Be'er Sheva and a first appearance in the Champions League league phase — and the first of them begins in front of what should be a raucous, largely blue-and-white crowd in a Romanian stadium that, for one week, becomes home.
