It’s been a great season for Barak Itzahki and Beitar Jerusalem.

There’s no doubting that whatsoever as the yellow-and-black have raised not only their level of play but perhaps even more importantly the level of professionalism around the club which then has far reaching effects on every single element around the team itself. That includes on field play, off the pitch workouts, media surrounding the team, game day presentation and just the general look and feel of what a professional sports franchise should look and feel like.

There have been issues here and issues there including some of the fans breaking into the Bayit Vegan training complex early on in the season where they confronted the players and staff. You can also go way, way back to when the team was in European qualification and there was a tiff between Itzhaki and his Captain Yarden Shua.

But that was long, long ago and now with that, quiet that has settled in and around the club, where there is only one thing on everyone’s minds which is the 2025/26 League Championship as Beitar readies to visit Hapoel Petach Tikva on Tuesday (20:30). That is the only thing that the fans, players and staff are concerned about, a league title which hasn’t been seen at Beitar since the 2007/08 campaign when the yellow-and-black won back-to-back and belly-to-belly championships.

The reason that all of the above has happened is clearly the influence and the magic touch that the Head Coach Barak Ithaki has had on the entire club.

Itzhaki has been through it all.

A native of Ashkelon, Itzhaki grew up in the ranks of the local Hapoel youth department and began his pro career with the club between 2001-2003 as he was sold to Beitar Jerusalem where he would have his first taste playing for a top division team. After a successful run with the yellow-and-black under a number of coaches, including the 2006/07 league title, the striker was sold to Racing Genk in Belgium.

However, Itzhaki headed back to Beitar in time for the 2008/09 campaign and stayed with Beitar for two more seasons before signing a 5-year deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv who paid an astronomical transfer fee to obtain the league’s leading scorer’s services. Unfortunately soon thereafter, during the opening matchday of the 2010/11 season, Itzhaki tore the ACL in his right knee.

Itzhaki did come back later that season but was eventually loaned out to Anorthosis Famagusta in Cyprus for the 2012/13 campaign before returning to Maccabi where he would win a pair of league titles and State Cup. In February of 2014, during the warmup for a Round of 32 encounter with Basel, Itzhaki tore the ACL in his left knee but once again mounted a comeback and played until the end of the 2017/2018 season when he announced his retirement.

From there he worked at Maccabi in a management position until 2023 and then was appointed to become the head coach at Beitar Jerusalem in February of 2024 and has been in the same position ever since.

Itzhaki played under tons of coaches from Luis Fernandez to Slavisa Jokanovic and from Pako Ayestaran as well as Paulo Sousa, Jordi Cruyff, Yossi Mizrachi and Itzhak Shum to just name a few.
The bottom line is, Itzhaki has seen it all in the football world as a player and has used that experience to improve the professional standing of Beitar Jerusalem for the much, much better.

That includes the character of the players, the influence that he has had on the entire squad, whether someone is playing or not, he has made sure that each and every one of his charges that is a part of the matchday team is there to give more than 1000%.

Just this past week we saw how right defensive back Roie Elimelech was reintegrated into the team after Nana Antwi went down with an injury. Elimelech had been the starting right back from the beginning of the season and played a tremendous amount for Beitar and was a solid player from top to bottom. However, the club brought in Antwi who they regarded as someone who would be a better fit and help the club with their title aspirations.

That sent Elimelech to the bench for the past three months as he didn’t see a minute of time for weeks upon end. But that changed in an instant as the Israeli has been terrific since returning to the lineup which Itzhaki doesn’t take for granted and explained that this is exactly how a professional needs to behave and sets an example for others.

“My players know that I’m very honest and I make decisions based on the truth I believe in, no matter who it concerns. I see the training sessions the day after games and I see the players who didn’t play in those matches coming in and pushing themselves to the limit, especially Roie Elimelech, who not only didn’t play, but was barely even in the squad. Still, he kept training hard and pushing himself and that sets an example for the others.

“At the end of the day, if the team needs you, you’ll be there. In the last two matches, beyond the fact that his football level was good, we came into a tough league match and he delivered a strong performance at Bloomfield against Maccabi Tel Aviv. He worked hard, trained and quietly, without complaints or sulking, did things the right way.”

“When you work this way and put in hard work, even if the opportunity comes because of a teammate’s injury, things work out for you and you get your chance. I’m happy for him. It sends a great message to the others, showing them that this can happen to any one of them, especially those who aren’t playing regularly.”

The same is also true to a player like Dor Micha, the veteran midfielder who was not only a teammate of Itzhaki’s at Maccabi but also a true professional as he comes on usually late in the game to help close out wins or to help make that game changing play to help Beitar.

“He brought himself back to life. During my time here at the end of my first season, I may have been around, but he did it thanks to himself. He didn’t get any privileges because of our familiarity and he earned it fairly. Credit to him for that.”

How about supersub, Timoti Muzie, the gift that keeps on giving? How many goals has he been able to score coming off of the bench and stun the opposition time-and-time again?
The examples are endless.

The bench boss may not want to take any credit, but there is no question it’s his fingerprints that are all over the club and that has allowed them to talk about winning the championship.

“Within the club, we talk a lot about the championship. I spoke with the players about it, with some of them I spoke about it early on, right when we came back from the forced break (due to the Iran war). The players have known for a long time what our goals are. I hope things work out in our favor and that we’ll be able to achieve it.”

“I’ve been imagining it for a long time. It’s something that has been building throughout the season. As someone who has experienced it, I tell the players in team meetings that they still haven’t seen anything, they haven’t seen what can happen if we win the championship. They understand it well; they live in the city and the fans shower them with love, even during difficult moments in matches.

As Itzhaki mentioned, the fans are going to play a critical role as they did in the comeback win against Maccabi Tel Aviv and they will fill the Moshava Stadium on Tuesday when they face Hapoel Petach Tikva. The players will need every ounce of help in order to get the desired results and have a chance to win the championship in the last two matches which includes the final game of the season at home against Hapoel Tel Aviv on Saturday night, but they will also need help for Beer Sheva to drop points.

“At Bloomfield, when we were behind and it seemed like everything was lost, the atmosphere wasn’t simple because it was such an unusual situation. We conceded and it looked hopeless, but the crowd suddenly came alive as if we were playing at Teddy.. We managed to turn it around without playing a great match. Maccabi Tel Aviv were better for large stretches, but these are the kinds of games you need to know how to win with grit and by being winners. At the end of the day I still don’t know whether the stars will align for us at the end.”