Hapoel Beer Sheva's first taste of Champions League qualifying since reclaiming the Israeli title was a sobering one. The champions lost 2-1 away to Iceland's Víkingur Reykjavík in the first leg of their second qualifying round tie on Tuesday, leaving Ran Kozuch's side needing a comeback in the return leg to keep their European campaign alive.
Nicolai Hansen headed Víkingur in front in the 48th minute, powering in a corner past a Beer Sheva defence that has looked shaky at times even through a title-winning season. The Israelis hit back almost immediately: three minutes later Niv Yehoshua won the ball high up the pitch and teed up Kings Kangwa, who finished to make it 1-1.
Beer Sheva thought they had completed the turnaround in the 77th minute when Yehoshua wheeled away in celebration, only for the goal to be chalked off by VAR for offside. Hansen made the visitors pay nine minutes later, converting again to hand Víkingur a 2-1 win at their own ground.
The tie now moves to Hungary, where Beer Sheva will play their nominal home leg in Szombathely on Wednesday, needing at least a one-goal win to progress and a two-goal margin to avoid extra time. It is familiar territory for Israeli clubs, who have had to stage continental "home" fixtures at neutral European venues in recent seasons.
ONE's analysis of the defeat, aired on the outlet's football podcast, pointed to more than one bad night on an artificial pitch in Reykjavik. Presenters Itzik Kalipi and Dov Gabai flagged defensive lapses that have persisted through the club's rise, and a continuing shortage of a genuine creative attacking midfielder capable of deciding matches at this level.
That last gap has been a talking point in Beer Sheva for months, and according to ONE, reinforcements from the transfer market that might address it have been slow to arrive this summer, even as the club prepares to balance a Champions League push with the defence of its Ligat Ha'al title.
Kozuch, the 45-year-old former Beer Sheva full-back, led the club to the championship in May by beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 4-2, and signed a new contract through 2028 on the back of it. A shaky opening continental night does not erase that achievement, but it does underline, as ONE's analysis put it, the distance still separating this squad from the level the coach will demand of it in Europe.
Kangwa's leveller arrived amid a swirl of transfer talk that has hung over the club all summer. The Zambian midfielder, last season's Israeli Footballer of the Year after scoring 12 goals, is reportedly a target for AEK Athens, with Greek reports cited by ONE putting the Greek champions' offer in the region of €4 million.
Kangwa remains under contract in Beer Sheva until 2028, giving the club leverage in any negotiation, but the interest from Athens is unresolved and neither side has confirmed a deal — a genuine transfer link rather than a completed move.
For now, the more pressing issue is Wednesday's second leg. A win in Hungary would send Beer Sheva into the third qualifying round and keep alive the prospect of Champions League group-stage football and its financial windfall; anything less would drop the champions into the Europa League qualifying path instead, a considerably less lucrative consolation.
