Hapoel Tel Aviv Faces a Tough Conference League Draw After 12-Year Return

Hapoel Tel Aviv will enter the draw for the second qualifying round of the Conference League on Wednesday, returning to European competition for the first time in a decade and, according to the article, after 12 years away. Eli Guttman? No, the team is coached by Elyaniv Barada, and its first matches are scheduled for July 23 and July 30, with the playoff round beginning on August 20. To reach the league phase, the club must survive three rounds, the second qualifying round, the third qualifying round and the playoff.

Because Hapoel Tel Aviv has not played in European competitions in recent years, it will receive Israel’s lowest coefficient for a club entering the draw, 5.5 points, which means it will be unseeded. If it eliminates a seeded opponent, it will inherit that team’s coefficient. That status leaves it vulnerable to a difficult draw in a round that already includes strong seeded teams such as Panathinaikos, AEK Larnaca and Brann.

More seeded teams will join later from major leagues, including the clubs finishing fourth in Portugal and Belgium and the fifth-place team in the Netherlands. The article says Hapoel Tel Aviv’s qualification also completes Israel’s four representatives in next season’s European competitions, alongside Hapoel Beersheba, Beitar Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Among the seeded possibilities listed are Braga, Ajax, Copenhagen, Gent, Rapid Vienna, Panathinaikos, Ludogorets, Steaua Bucharest, Raków, Partizan Belgrade, Lugano, AEK Larnaca, Başakşehir, Rijeka, Cluj, HJK Helsinki, Zrinjski, Brann, Noah, Spartak Trnava, Hradec Kralove, Austria Vienna, Katowice, Vaduz, Nordsjælland, Tobol, Apollon Limassol, Hibernian, HB Tórshavn and Sion. If Hapoel advance from the first round, possible opponents also include RFS Riga, Astana, Zalgiris, Shkendija, Ballkani, Pyunik Yerevan, Linfield, Hamrun Spartans, Milsami, Levadia Tallinn, Paide, Differdange and Dinamo Minsk.