It’s quite amazing that Hapoel Tel Aviv has the opportunity this season to be a kingmaker for the Israeli Soccer League championship. Who would have ever thought that the newly promoted team would be in the position to make plenty of noise amongst the top clubs as they currently sit in 5th place with 29 points and have a real chance to play in the Championship Playoffs.

Hapoel heads into a critical matchup against Hapoel Beer Sheva on Monday (20:00) at Bloomfield Stadium in what will be a highly pressure packed matchup with the southern reds coming into the clash 3-points behind Beitar Jerusalem who currently occupy first place.

Elyaniv Barda’s squad fell to their city rival Maccabi Tel Aviv in the State Cup Round of 16 via penalties in a game that the reds should have finished off well before the contest went into spot kicks as the yellow-and-blue had been reduced to ten men, which Hapoel couldn’t take advantage of.

But as the bench boss said clearly, there is no looking back at was but what is in front of them, which is to reach the goals that they had set for themselves despite it being very difficult to get over the trauma as to what had happened less than a week ago.

“We were eliminated from the Cup in the most cruel way possible,” Barda began. But it’s something that will have to make us stronger. We were in the game for its entire duration, both before and after the red card. We needed to do things better after the sending off and penalties are always about luck. Even there, it ended in a cruel way. In every sense, it ended in the most painful and cruel way for us.

“The players took some time for themselves because it wasn’t easy after such a big disappointment, but we don’t have time to cry or complain. What happened, happened. We don’t have any other choice and we have to get over what had happened. At the end of the day, in a few days we have another match. We need to put things aside despite all the pain and try to make the fans happy again in the next home game.”

That next home game is right now as Hapoel Beer Sheva, Barda’s former club comes to town looking to get back into first place but there is no way that his side will allow owner Alona Barkat’s team to just come in and do as they please. Hapoel Tel Aviv will look to play their best because they know that they not only need the points to ensure their place in the Championship Playoffs with the likes of Hapoel Petach Tikva and Bnei Sakhnin right on their tails but that they can play the role of “Kingmaker”.

Playing in the Championship Playoffs will set up some big matchups for Barda’s team who were less than a year ago in the Leumit League as they will play the other five teams including Beer Sheva and Beitar a combined total of 4 times. That’s a lot of points and quite the minefield that the two top teams will need to get through which will also include a pair of games a piece against both Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

“Even though Beer Sheva won’t come into this game in first place, they really don’t interest me. What interests me is my team. We need to come focused and concentrated. We’ll need to come and win and I really hope we do, in order to create a safety margin in securing a top-playoff spot,” Barda exclaimed.

“I think that from last season, when I began with Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Leumit League where we were in fourth place 9 points away from promotion, to being today a key team that can influence and be dominant in the top playoff, is really an accomplishment. Even though we’re coming off a disappointing Derby match, we won’t forget our goals and what we are trying to do.”

Beer Sheva are completely aware that they will not be coming into Bloomfield Stadium and taking a cake walk. Ron Kozuk’s team will need to be focused in order to take care of business and regain the top spot, because if they don’t, Hapoel Tel Aviv will make them pay dearly for their lack of concentration.

“I think we understand what the moments are that make Hapoel Tel Aviv so strong at Bloomfield,” Kozuk explained. “We must understand which moments cause the crowd to push them and take the game in their direction, to their advantage. We must use our fans who bought tickets quickly, to our advantage so we’ll also have that push. There will be difficult moments; we need to be precise with the principles that brought us to where we are, to work hard together and taken the 3-points.”

Kozuk knows that if Beer Sheva should lose this game, they will be a trio of points behind Beitar Jerusalem, a team that they will be hosting in just a few weeks. But he also warns that the league season is a marathon and not a sprint where one game can make a difference. However, in reality each game does make that impact for either teams and each win and loss along with a draw can tilt the title race one way or another.

“This is a marathon and you have to look at the points at the end of the season,” Kozuk said. “Teams pick up points, go on runs, drop points, this is how it always is. Beitar doesn’t surprise me. In my first press conference I spoke about Beitar Jerusalem, while everyone were talking about Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv. I know the staff and know how they work, credit to them but we’re only thinking about Hapoel Beer Sheva.”

While both teams seem to just want to concern themselves, well, with themselves, they also know that it takes two to tango and that they need to adjust their play in order to come out on top of each opponent they face. Hapoel Tel Aviv knows that they are not in the title hunt, but that they are going to be able to influence this season’s championship and that is no doubt a goal that Barda had in mind when he was looking at what he wanted to get out of the season.

This is an opportunity for many of their young players, from Stav Turiel to Roy Korine and from Tal Archel to Roie Alkukin and to Daniel Dappa, to gain invaluable experience while being supported by some solid veterans as Hapoel continues to build for the future.

The fans understand that and they also now have the hope that they are a real player here and while they may not be ready this season to compete for the championship, they once again have an important part to play in Israeli soccer. With effort and determination they will be the Kingmakers, a role that Barda and the reds will no doubt relish.