Hapoel Be'er Sheva head into Tuesday night in Baku with the advantage that matters most in a two-legged tie: a lead. Ran Kojok's side beat Sabah 2-1 in the first leg in Bucharest last week, and a place in the Champions League league phase for the first time in the club's history is now within touching distance.
Sabah, the Azerbaijani champions, have to find a way back, and according to ONE the occasion in Baku is shaping up to be a genuine spectacle regardless of the football. The Azerbaijani outlet reports that local journalists are forecasting a crowd of anywhere between 20,000 and 28,000, with roughly 2,000 travelling Israeli supporters swallowed up inside a stadium filled largely with home fans.
One detail underlines just how big Sabah consider this game: they are not playing it at their own ground. ONE reports that Sabah's regular stadium does not meet UEFA's hosting standards — it is short on capacity and lacks the separate entrances required for home and away supporters — so the second leg has been shifted to the old Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium in Baku, a 31,000-capacity venue that last served as Azerbaijan's national stadium before the Baku Olympic Stadium was built.
The Azerbaijani outlet İdman və Biz reported this week that around 15,000 tickets had already been sold ahead of kick-off, a figure that, taken alongside ONE's local estimates, points toward a near-capacity house for a club used to playing in front of far smaller crowds.
The first leg swung on a fast start and a strong finish. Sabah led inside six minutes through Veljko Simić, but Hapoel responded before the break through Javon East and then won the game in the second half when Igor Zlatanović struck in the 79th minute to make it 2-1 — the same scoreline they now have to defend.
Kickoff on Tuesday is set for 20:45 local time in Baku, which is 19:45 in Israel — the one-hour time difference behind the discrepancy in kickoff times reported by different outlets. A draw or a Hapoel win by any margin would send the Israeli champions into the Champions League league phase for the first time; Sabah, chasing the same milestone themselves, need to win by two clear goals to force extra time, or by three to go through outright.
For Kojok, appointed by the club two seasons ago, it is the biggest night of his Be'er Sheva tenure so far. His side have already eliminated Red Star Belgrade on aggregate to reach this play-off round, and a positive result in Baku would complete the most successful European campaign in the club's history.
ONE's report also captured the mood among Azerbaijani commentary, with local voices quoted as rating the tie close to 50-50 given Sabah have not previously played at this particular stadium — a rare factor of unfamiliarity working against the home side even as it hosts what could be a sell-out crowd.
Whatever happens, the winner moves into the group phase of Europe's premier club competition for the first time — a landmark for either club, and one that has turned a routine play-off leg into what is being billed in Baku as one of the Azerbaijani game's biggest nights in years.
