Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hosts Sabah in Historic Champions League Playoff Clash

Hapoel Be'er Sheva is on the verge of making Israeli football history by potentially becoming the first Israeli team to reach the Champions League group stage since Maccabi Haifa, Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Hapoel Tel Aviv previously competed there. On Wednesday evening, the Israeli champions host Azerbaijani side Sabah in Bucharest, a team that eliminated Maccabi Haifa from the Conference League qualifiers two years ago and recently won their first Azerbaijani league title. Both clubs have never played in the Champions League group stage, marking the first playoff tie since the 2009/10 season featuring two debutants at this level.

After resting his main squad and suffering a 4-0 defeat with substitutes against Hapoel Haifa in the Toto Cup, Hapoel Be'er Sheva coach Ran Kojukh returned to the lineup that impressed with a 2-0 win over Red Star Belgrade last week. Pedro Amador starts at left back despite the return of Matan Baltaksa from suspension, while the attack features Javon East and Zahi Ahmed flanking Igor Zlatanovic. Sabah's lineup includes former Maccabi Haifa player Xander Sabrina, who starts for the first time after scoring in their last two matches.

The starting lineups are as follows: Hapoel Be'er Sheva fields Ofir Marciano, Guy Mizrahi, Miguel Vitor, Itay Rotman, Pedro Amador, Lucas Ventura, Niv Yehoshua, Eliel Peretz, Javon East, Zahi Ahmed, and Igor Zlatanovic. Sabah's lineup includes Stas Pukatilov, Akim Zadadka, Steve Solva, Rahman Dashdamirov, Timoteusz Puchacz, Ivan Lepinica, Omrali Rahmonaliev, Alexey Isayev, Xander Sabrina, Veliko Simic, and Joy Lance Mikels.