Hapoel Tel Aviv have mapped out their run-in to the 2026/27 season, with ONE reporting that Dimitrios Itoudis's squad will play six preparation games across three countries before a ninth-of-September domestic curtain-raiser.
The tour opens in Bulgaria with two matches away to Balkan Botevgrad, on August 29 and August 31, giving the Greek coach his first look at how a reshaped roster fits together under game conditions.
From there the squad moves to Serbia for a testing back-to-back: Partizan Belgrade on September 5, followed a day later by FMP, both EuroLeague-and-ABA-League-standard opposition that should sharpen the group ahead of the continental campaign.
The preparation period concludes in Sardinia, where Hapoel will take part in a four-team tournament in Cagliari on September 12 and 13, playing two games against a field that, according to ONE, includes Bayern Munich, ASVEL Villeurbanne and Roma.
Once the friendlies are done, the competitive calendar starts quickly. The Winner Cup group stage opens on September 8, before the Israeli Super Cup on September 17 pits Hapoel against city rivals Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The EuroLeague season then begins on September 24 against Bayern Munich — a fixture EuroLeague's own schedule confirms for that date. It will not be played at Hapoel's usual Tel Aviv home: the club has already announced it is relocating its EuroLeague home games to Arena 8888 in Sofia, Bulgaria, for the season because of the security situation in Israel, a switch reported separately by Eurohoops.
That relocation adds extra context to the preseason itinerary — the trip to Bulgaria is also a chance for the squad to get a feel for the country that will effectively serve as their European base for the year ahead.
ONE's report gives no further detail on personnel moves, but the club has been reshaping its roster over the summer, and Itoudis is expected to use all six warm-up games to settle on his rotation before the games start to count.
