Hapoel Beer Sheva pulled off the big upset while Hapoel Tel Aviv also advanced but will now face a huge test as Maccabi Tel Aviv’s disorganization saw them drop down a league and Beitar Jerusalem was the first Israeli team to be eliminated from European play.

Beer Sheva took care of Red Star Belgrade handily in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League third round tie by the score of 2-0 and 3-0 on aggregate as Ron Kozuk schooled Dejan Stankovic who was out of a job before the match even came to an end. The Serbian squad was just downright awful, terrible, pathetic, horrible, you name it, they couldn’t do anything right and just about everything wrong.

With that the southern reds took care of business in a very business like way; confidently. Beer Sheva couldn’t have played a better match away from home at one of the most difficult stadiums in the world, the Marakana. Instead of being petrified and afraid of their surroundings, Kozuk had his players humming along in perfect unison as they saw goals from Igor Zlatanovic and Javon Eats who could do no wrong on this night.

There was absolutely no way that Beer Sheve was going to lose this qualifying tie as an Israeli team once again took care of one of Europe’s great franchises on their own turf.

Niv Yehoshua was stellar and so was newcomer Pedro Amador who we making his debut, both Zlatanovic and East did what they do best, score and Ofir Marciano put in a workmanlike performance to record the clean sheet over the 180 minutes of play and help his side to the win. It couldn’t have gone any better for Kozuk and he now readies for the last qualifying stage, the playoff round.

However, their opponent, Sabah from Azerbaijan is not going to be a walker despite having never participated in a European Group or League stage. Founded back on 2017, this is Sabah’s fourth season in a row that they are participating in continental qualifying and regardless of the result against Hapoel Beer Sheva, at worst case they will be taking part in a league phase either in the Champions League should they win or the Europa League should they lose.

Interestingly enough, Maccabi Haifa was the only other Israeli team that faced the Azerbaijani club which was back in 2024-25 Conference League 2nd round qualifying where Sabah got by the Greens on penalties. Also, a former Haifa player is also on the team in Xander Severina who played by the Carmel in that same season.

Hapoel Beer Sheva can taste the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester United, Inter Milan and others on the tips of their tongues, but they can’t get too over excited here. They need to go in to the two-legged tie and just get the job done. Plain, simple and to the point, without any drama and should they do that, then the sky’s the limit.

One team that has dealt with plenty of drama is Maccabi Tel Aviv who at this point in time doesn’t seem to know which players are coming and going, who is playing and who is now. That uncertainty cost them a place in the Europa League playoffs as Maccabi fell to CSKA Sofia 4-3, with the first leg being a 3-0 blowout for the Bulgarians and the second a thrilling 3-1 match.

The yellow-and-blue’s left back Roy Revivo did not play as he thought as well as the entire soccer media and fan population that he was headed to a team in La Liga. That club turned out to be Elche but as of the second leg, nothing had transpired and Revivo was back in the starting lineup.

But with Revivo in, it was Sayed Abu Farchi out as he is about to sign with Colorado in the MLS. Arguably their best goal scorer was not in the Starting XI as the striker at this point is thinking about one thing, heading to America.

There is plenty of blame to go around for Maccabi’s ousting from the Europa League, from management and new sports director Steven Vanharen to the players, their agents and families as well.

The person who should be absolved of any blame here is the head coach Kenny Miller. Hs job is to do the best with what he has to work with and it’s certainly not his fault the squad is what it is right now with so much uncertainty as well with the foreign players.

The bottom line is that this is not how a team like Maccabi Tel Aviv should be operating.

However, the one bright note of this fiasco is that should Maccabi make it past Lugano in the Conference League playoff round and that is not something that should be taken for granted, this European competition should be a lot more suitable for the yellow-and-blue. Last year Maccabi finished 36th overall in the league phase with just one point out of eight matches while the season before they ended up in 29th place with 6 points.

Without having games in Israel, European clashes are just that more difficult to handle and that was clearly the case the past two years. Three campaigns ago in the Conference League, Maccabi made it out of the group stage and they also did the same back in 2021-22. It just seems that the Conference League is the better spot for Miller and his squad right now which will allow them to be able to compete in the slate that they will be presented with. But, of course that also depends on Maccabi now being able to get by the tough Swiss club.

Over at Hapoel Tel Aviv, they will be looking to pull off one of the biggest upsets in Israeli football history when they take on Atalanta in the Conference League playoff round. The Bergamo based club is going to present a very, very tough two-legged tie for the Reds who will be huge underdogs. But, that doesn’t bother Head Coach Elyaniv Barda who will make sure that his Hapoel team will be ready to go just as they were against Katowice, save for a few nerve wracking minutes down the stretch of the second leg go their Conference League third round tilt.

Hapoel downed Katowice 2-0 in the first leg and then grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second match, pretty much wrapping up the series that would see them advance. However, the Polish club scored a pair of late goals and put all kinds of pressure on the Reds which they were able to stave off and make it through to meet Atalanta.

Barda’s squad is loaded with top level players from Israelis Stav Turiel, Omri Altman and Roi Alkukin to foreigners which include Emmanuel Boateng, Falcao, Mayembo and many more. There is depth, quality and a certain calming influence that the head coach is able to convey.

With that as their biggest strength, maybe, just maybe, Hapoel will be able to pull off the big upset, but there is no question that Maurizio Sarri’s squad is going to be one really tough out.

Speaking of out, Beitar Jerusalem is now out of Europe after being eliminated by Austria Wein on penalties after a tough as nails two legged tie. The Austrians grabbed a 2-1 win in the first leg, but Almog Cohen’s squad came back to take a 2-0 lead in the second leg which resulted in a 3-2 advantage on aggregate. However, a tough mistake by Boris Enow at the top of the box handed the hosts an easy marker drawing the two matches even and sending the tie to a penalty shootout.

With the yellow-and-black missing two of their spot kicks via Eugene Ansah and Timoti Muzie, it was bye, bye, so long and farewell for Cohen’s side. The truth is the penalty shootout is really a crapshoot and a cruel way to decide who advances and who goes home, but it is, what it is and Beitar are now heading back to Israel looking ahead to the new season.

This is not the end of the world for Beitar because the other teams they will be competing with for the championship be it Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Beer Sheva may all be playing in Europe with plenty of extra games that Cohen will not have to contend with. Certainly, he would have wanted to advance to the league phase but this isn’t the end of the world for a team that is still building themselves back up after being a relegation candidate just a few seasons ago.

Barak Itzhaki did a phenomenal job last year and guided Beitar to a second place finish. But Cohen now, with a deeper and more talented squad has the goods to take the yellow-and-black all the way to the top of the league and with that also comes with a Champions League qualification spot along with an almost a guaranteed place in one of the three European competitions.

Beitar has a chance to have a very special season and that could lead to an amazing year of football ahead.