Hapoel Be'er Sheva have not kicked a ball against Red Star Belgrade yet, but ONE has already sketched out where the road leads if the Israeli champions get through — and it runs to either Denmark or Azerbaijan.
The Beer Sheva pass on this qualifying route begins in earnest on Tuesday, when the club hosts Red Star at a neutral venue in Hungary, the Haladás Sportkomplexum, in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie. The return match follows in Belgrade on August 11. The Serbian champions arrive in ominous form, having beaten Northern Ireland's Larne 9-0 on aggregate in the previous round.
Get past the Serbs — known in Hebrew football shorthand simply as "HaKochav," the Star — and Beer Sheva would advance to the play-off round, one tie away from a first-ever berth in the Champions League's revamped league phase. Their opponent there, ONE reports, would be the winner of a separate third-round meeting between AGF Aarhus of Denmark and Sabah FC of Azerbaijan.
That Aarhus-Sabah tie was set when UEFA drew the third qualifying round on July 20. The play-off round's first legs are scheduled for August 18-19, with the return fixtures on August 25-26 — meaning Beer Sheva, if they advance, would know their next opponent barely a week after finishing off Red Star.
Regardless of how the Red Star tie unfolds, Beer Sheva have already banked continental football for the season: by reaching this stage of Champions League qualifying, the club has guaranteed itself a place in this season's Conference League league phase at minimum, Israeli outlets reported after the win over Vikingur Reykjavik that got them here.
That victory over the Icelandic champions was not straightforward. Beer Sheva lost the first leg in Reykjavik 2-1, with Kings Kangwa's away goal the only bright spot, before completing the turnaround with a 2-0 win at home to advance 3-2 on aggregate.
Kangwa will not be involved in the Red Star assignment, however. The Zambian midfielder, named the Israeli league's Footballer of the Year after a 12-goal season that helped deliver the title, completed a permanent move to Panathinaikos this summer in a deal reported at a fixed €3.8 million, potentially rising to €4.5 million with add-ons.
Red Star present a serious step up regardless of who lines up without Kangwa. The Belgrade club carries genuine European pedigree — they remain the only side from the former Yugoslavia to have won the old European Cup, lifting it in 1991 — and their travelling support is among the most fervent on the continent.
For Beer Sheva, under coach Uri Malmilian, the prize at the end of this run would be historic: the club has never featured in the Champions League's group or league phase, and doing so would bring a windfall in UEFA prize money along with a spot among Europe's elite 36 clubs this autumn.
Nothing is decided yet. Tuesday's first leg against Red Star is the only fixture that matters right now, and the Aarhus-Sabah tie still has to produce a winner before Beer Sheva's hypothetical play-off opponent is confirmed.
