Hapoel Tel Aviv will have Marcus Coco available for Thursday's Conference League playoff return leg against Atalanta, but two other key attacking players remain in doubt just days before the biggest match of the club's European campaign, ONE reports.
Coco, whom the Hebrew press has nicknamed "Koko," trained normally through the week and is expected to be fit to start in Miskolc, Hungary, where the second leg kicks off on Thursday. Because Israeli clubs cannot currently host continental fixtures at home, Hapoel's "home" leg will instead be played at the DVTK Stadion, with the club anticipating 5,000-6,000 traveling supporters despite the cost of last-minute flights at the end of August.
Emmanuel Boateng is a more cautious case. The forward picked up a muscle cramp during the first leg in Bergamo last Thursday, which finished goalless, but according to ONE the club is optimistic he will be available for selection against Atalanta.
The bigger concern is Stav Touriel, who missed the first leg entirely with sensitivity in a posterior thigh muscle. ONE reports his situation remains genuinely uncertain, with the club planning a rehabilitation program and withholding any final call until he returns to full training and is assessed by the medical staff closer to kickoff.
Touriel has been one of Hapoel's most productive players through this European run, and his absence would be keenly felt against a Serie A side of Atalanta's calibre. The two teams played out a scoreless draw in the first leg, leaving the tie delicately balanced heading into Hungary.
The stakes could hardly be higher: the winner advances directly to the Conference League's league phase, a result Hapoel's camp has described as a potentially sensational achievement for an Israeli club against a team that competed in last season's Champions League playoff picture.
With team news still fluid three days out, Hapoel's coaching staff are expected to finalise their selection only after final training sessions ahead of Thursday's kickoff.
