There’s nothing better than a “Big Game” and Israeli soccer has one of those coming up on Thursday night (20:30) as Beitar Jerusalem hosts Hapoel Tel Aviv.

For the third time this season, the arch-rivals will play after the two split the first two tilts with the reds winning a dramatic 3-2 contest in league play back in September at Bloomfield Stadium, while the yellow-and-black took the Toto Cup championship at Sammy Ofer Stadium a month later.

Now once again they will do battle in a highly anticipated clash which will take place on the Teddy Stadium pitch in the capital city in what is supposed to be a rainy and windy night in southern Jerusalem.

Close to 30,000 fans will pack into the facility with the vast majority of supporters rooting for Beitar while the others will certainly try and make their presence be felt. However, Teddy Stadium this season has been a very rough and tumble place to play this season with what seems to be one sell out after the next.

“It’s a wonderful thing to have big games,” Beitar bench boss Barak Itzhaki exclaimed. “Even those games that are supposedly against lower-profile teams, you can feel the celebration around them. The crowd really connects to it and so does the media. It’s become a trend to come watch Beitar games and I’m very happy about that.”

Veteran midfielder shared his coach’s sentiments, “It’s the most fun. That’s why you want to play football, full stadiums and it brings out the best in us. I hope there will be as many of these as possible.”

With that, the city itself is popping and filled with excitement as Beitar is challenging for the league’s top spot which is currently being held by Hapoel Beer Sheva. With a win, Itzhaki’s squad will keep pace with the southern reds and stay just 2-points off of first place and with that the expectations remain as the city continues to heat up knowing that the championship is within reach.

A championship that hasn’t been seen in the Holy City since 2007-08.

It’s been a long, long time.

Itzhaki recalled when he was part of the Beitar title winning teams and how the atmosphere around winning has really gone up by leaps and bounds from those days, “This wasn’t even the case even during our championship years about 20 years ago. There’s a very good vibe around the team, and I don’t want us to lose focus. My goal is to neutralize the background noise and play good football.”

“We are receiving so much love,” Micha added. “I was always told that every victory here is a real celebration in the city. The fans appreciate every little thing. Lately you really feel it, and it’s amazing.”

What’s ironic is that the last soccer championship that was won at Teddy Stadium was back in 2009-10 when Eran Zahavi, who retired earlier in the day, scored the winner for Hapoel Tel Aviv over Beitar Jerusalem which helped them snatch the title away from Maccabi Haifa at the last possible moment in what was one of the dramatic moments in Israeli soccer history. That was also Hapoel’s last league title.

While Beitar is a legitimate title threat, Hapoel is not, but that’s also fine as Elyaniv Barda has been working on changing the face of the reds after having spent last season in the second division. He’s done a great job thus far but also has plenty of hard work to go in order to take the team to the levels of being a championship contender year in and year out.

But once again, contender or not, anytime these two teams get together, what can be expected is the unexpected and the rules of the game can hit the trash; there are really no favorites no matter what the odds makers may say.

“We prepared for Hapoel,” Itzhaki said. “We know how they’ll play. On the mental side, in a match of such a high profile, there’s no need to talk about motivation. It’s a game where you don’t need to say much, just focus on the tactical aspects. We’re playing against a very good, well-coached team that knows how to produce a variety of systems during the game.”

Micha shared his thoughts on what will help Beitar record a good result against Hapoel, “Humility is the most important thing. We shouldn’t forget that last year was the first good season for Beitar after many years. We want to go as far as possible. Making declarations won’t advance us, don’t look too far ahead, just focus on the next game and keep doing our thing.”

Beitar fell behind against Tiberias in the Cup and that created plenty of stress and pressure because in Cups games, there are no second chances, however, finding themselves in the hole versus a team like Hapoel could bring on the same effects, Itzhaki explained.

“It’s not pleasant to start a match from behind because you can get into trouble. I’m happy that we showed character. I’d prefer we don’t fall behind and we’re working on what’s needed with my players.”

Without a doubt it’s never fun to hand your opponent a lead and then have to find a way to compensate and come back into the picture. But when a team has depth, that also becomes a bit easier to do and adding quality pieces in order to compete for the championship was exactly what management had in mind when sports director Almog Cohen signed Boris Enow, a player that he was familiar with back in their days at Maccabi Netanya, even before the transfer window was open.

“We want to strengthen the squad and we have talked about it two months ago. We now have another player in the squad who already knows the country, so adaptation will be easier. He’ll need to bring his abilities here. We’ve added another player who can be significant. Let’s wait and see how he proves himself on the pitch.”

The bottom line is, Beitar is in fine form right now and it’s not just their play on the pitch but the comradery off of it, Micha who has played for a number of high profile and title winning teams said, “There’s something very special about this group. I’m not saying it lightly, it’s one of the best teams I’ve been part of. A great combination where everyone puts their ego aside. Success is what matters most. We’re enjoying every moment.”