Beitar Jerusalem has already begun preparations for the 2026/27 campaign under their new head coach Almog Cohen who comes down to the sidelines from the sports director position that he held for a couple of seasons. With that, the unseeded yellow-and-black was drawn against AEK Larnaca in the second qualifying round of the Conference League.

To reach the Conference League league phase, Beitar must also navigate through three rounds in order to reach the promised land. The first leg will be played on July 23rd in Cyprus, while the “home” return leg will be played one week later in the city of Ploiești, just north of Bucharest, Romania. The third qualifying round is scheduled for August 6th and 13th while the playoffs are slated for August 20th and 27th.

AEK Larnaca, who just named former Juventus midfielder Mauro Camoranesi as their head coach, finished second in the Cypriot league last season and while they do not have an extensive European history, the club has accumulated valuable continental experience as just last season, they reached the Conference League Round of 16 before being eliminated by eventual champions Crystal Palace

Defender Yahav Gurfinkel joined the club in January of 2026 and came up through the ranks at Maccabi Haifa before featuring for Hapoel Tel Aviv, joined Larnaca in January 2026. Another former Hapoel Tel Aviv player associated with Larnaca is Omri Altman who played for the Cypriot club during the 2022/23 season, scoring 10 goals in 32 appearances before returning to Israel and Hapoel Tel Aviv.

There is also a former Beitar Jerusalem figure with ties to Larnaca in head coach Nir Klinger as he coached the club wya back during the 2007/08 campaign.