Packed Arena Expected for Derby Game 2 as Hapoel Tries to Even Final
Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv meet tonight, Thursday at 8:50 p.m., in Game 2 of the Israeli Premier League playoff final at Menora Mivtachim Arena, with live coverage on 5SPORT. Maccabi leads the best-of-series 1-0 after its 96-75 win on Tuesday.
Hapoel, coached by Dimitris Itoudis, is looking to level the series after the heavy defeat. The club is preparing for a near-capacity crowd, with estimates that about 9,000 fans from both teams will attend.
Hapoel has issued about 8,000 tickets, plus roughly 1,000 set aside for Maccabi supporters. In Game 1, which Maccabi hosted on Tuesday, 8,278 spectators were in the arena, including more than 7,000 Maccabi fans and about 1,000 Hapoel supporters.
This time, the balance is expected to flip, with a majority of red-clad Hapoel fans likely to dominate the stands in Game 2.
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