Hapoel Beer Sheva will host Sabah in Champions League qualifying playoffs in Bucharest as both teams will be dreaming of reaching the league phase for the first time ever in their history. Ahead of the big clash, the Israeli champions held a press conference, with head coach Ran Kozuk and captain Miguel Vitor who spoke about the challenge that lies ahead of the southern reds.

“We are preparing just like we would do for any other game,” Kozuk began. “I saw a very high-quality and fast Sabah team that knows how to punish you on the counterattack and they are definitely a very well-coached team. We’re excited, but at the end of the day, it’s another football match. We’ll need to be as prepared as possible. We focused on the small details and we’ll have to win those small moments.”

“I knew we would have to make changes to the squad, with some players leaving the squad and others arriving. All along, I believed we would reach the playoffs. As for our current players, many of them don’t receive the appreciation they deserve. I hope the next two games will prove just how good they are.”

On new signing Yonas Malede, Kozuk said, “The responsibility is on him to revive his career. I think he has the ability, potential and qualities. The relationship between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Beer Sheva is excellent, which is why he is here. I hope he can go as far as possible.”

The captain Miguel Vitor added, “I’m very excited to return to this stage. This is why I’m still playing football, to play on this stage. It’s every footballer’s dream. I hope we can take the final step and reach the Champions League. These games are decided by the smallest details. We’ll need to stick to the football that brought us this far. We’ll have to continue doing the same thing, even when there’s more pressure on us. Wednesday’s game will be 50/50 and it will be different from the Red Star Belgrade game.

“When we reached the Europa League group stage and played against Inter, everyone in Beer Sheva was going crazy. It takes me back to that and now we have an opportunity to do something even bigger. Unfortunately, we can’t play in Beer Sheva, but we really want to bring that happiness to the fans and reach the Champions League.”