After a 12-year absence from European competition, Hapoel Tel Aviv will “host” Bulgarian side Ludogorets tomorrow (Thursday, 9:30 p.m.) in Hungary in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League second round qualifier. Ahead of the match, head coach Elyaniv Barda and veteran Omri Altman spoke at the team’s pre-match press conference.

“I’m expecting a good game against an excellent opponent,” Barda began. “They are without question a team with Champions League quality. In the past, I played with Hapoel Beer Sheva against Levski Sofia and that was my only encounter with a Bulgarian team. It’s difficult to analyze all of the teams, of course, but as I said, we’re expecting a tough match and we’ll do our very best.”

The club is still unable to host matches at home in Israel which is something that has effected all of the teams in continental play not just the season but over the past few years and it happens to be a huge disadvantage when a club can’t play in their own packed stadium.

“We would have been very happy if we could host the match at home and have you visit Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, that’s the current situation and we can’t change it. This is our home for now, a home match away from home. I’m sure the fans traveling from Israel will create a great atmosphere and we’ll try to return home with a good result. In any case, it’s difficult to analyze an opponent like this, especially when they have a new coach. We’ll try to focus on our own football and the things we do well. Of course, we still have a lot to improve if we want to get past a team like this.”

Midfielder Omri Altman also spoke about the upcoming clash and how it’s been quite some time since the Reds were in Europe, “I’m sure from the very first minute we’ll feel at home with 6,000 to 7,000 fans coming from Israel. Reaching this stage after 12 years in which Hapoel failed to qualify for European competition is very exciting for everyone and we’re looking forward to the match. As for not having been in Europe for a long time, it gives us motivation. Many of the players haven’t played in European competitions before and I’m sure everyone is coming into this with great motivation to show how strong we are. I really hope we’ll come back with a good result ahead of the second leg.”

Altman also discussed Hapoel’s ambitions of winning the league title, “It’s too early to talk about the championship, but we want to take another step forward this season. We’re progressing as a club and as a team. We want to preserve the good things we’ve built while improving the areas that weren’t as good last season. We’ll continue to move forward step by step.”