Hapoel Tel Aviv fell to Atalanta 1-0 and were eliminated from UEFA Conference League qualification play afwter having drawn 0-0 in the firts leg. Both teams went end to end throughout the first half which was goalless at the break, but Atalanta finally broke through when Gianluca Scanacca put home a corner kick to take a 1-0 lead in the 72nd minute. Hapoel tried to find the equalizer but kept coming up short as the Reds were eliminated from continental play. <\/p>\n
Head Coach Eliyahiv Barda spoke about the loss, \u201cWe are deeply disappointed. I feel that we were equal to Atalanta, and perhaps even better than them. We showed much better ability than we did in the first leg, and it simply hurts to be eliminated because of a single goal, especially when we made so little of the opportunities we created. We are constantly keeping our finger on the pulse when it comes to the transfer market, and we\u2019ll know how to respond if necessary. As for Stav Turiel \u2013 he recovered from his injury faster than expected, and thankfully he was able to play today. Is he staying at Hapoel Tel Aviv? Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m proud of my players for a great performance. They came with complete belief and excellent mental preparation, knowing they could get through. Our European journey has been cut short, but the league starts on Sunday, and that is our bread and butter. We\u2019ll want to replicate these things there so that we can return to these stages again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Assaf Tzur, the Reds goalkeeper spoke about the difficult emotions in the dressing room, explained the decisive goal, and outlined his goals for the upcoming season, \u201cI still haven\u2019t seen the replay, but from what I felt on the pitch \u2013 I punched away a corner, the ball reached one of their players who took a shot, and their striker put away the rebound. That was what decided the entire tie. We also prepared for the possibility of a penalty shootout. I worked on it with the coaching staff and the analysts, so it\u2019s very frustrating that we didn\u2019t get there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s simply incredible to see so many fans following us to an \u2018away\u2019 home game abroad. That really cannot be taken for granted. We wanted so badly to repay them on the pitch, and although we didn\u2019t manage to do it, I believe they appreciate the effort we put in. We\u2019re all very downhearted right now because we wanted to reach the group stage, but we have a lot of confidence. Hapoel Tel Aviv is a top club that aims as high as possible, and we\u2019ll have to prove that already on Sunday against Hapoel Haifa away from home. Hopefully, next year we\u2019ll return to Europe, play our home games at Bloomfield, and perhaps even compete in a higher-level competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Captain Omri Altman shared the overall sense of disappointment, but chose to devote most of his comments to the red fans, \u201cWe felt on the pitch that we were capable of doing it, and that we were equal to our opponents, if not better than them. At the highest levels of European football, matches are decided by the smallest details, and that\u2019s a shame.<\/p>\n
I have no words to describe what happened here today. The support we received, even after a defeat like this, is something rare in European football. These fans have accompanied us on six emotional journeys abroad and have been with us from the first minute to the last. Huge credit to them. This is only the beginning of a new journey that we want to build.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hapoel Tel Aviv fell to Atalanta 1-0 and were eliminated from UEFA Conference League qualification play afwter having drawn 0-0 in the firts leg. Both teams went end to end throughout the first half which was goalless at the break, but Atalanta finally broke through when Gianluca Scanacca put home a corner kick to take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":189380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[97],"class_list":["post-189376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football-israel-2","tag-hapoel-tel-aviv","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n