Our next opponents: Bitter blow for Be'er Sheva

The fact that this team can play very good football in spite of having less familiar players, was experienced first-hand by Bayer 04 in the game at the start of the month. The Werkself did end up with a 4-2 win but were behind thanks to a brace from the impressive striker Elton Acolatse. A performance the Israelis can be proud of. And the displays in the other two group matches against Slavia Prague (3-1) and Nice (0-1) were also very impressive.

In the league: Hapoel on the spot

The team would gladly have taken that form into the league but Hapoel have recently discovered they are two different competitions. At home against Kfar Saba, a few days after the game against the Werkself, they could only manage a goalless draw and last weekend, Be'er Sheva lost 2-0 at FC Ashdod and have now slipped down to tenth place. "It's a different way of playing than in Europe," said coach Yossi Abukasis following the defeat. "We have to contribute different facets of our game." So he could almost be happy to now return to the international stage where his team have impressed with their lightning fast counter-attacking football.

One thing will probably will be crucially different from the last time. Captain and defensive stalwart Miguel Vitor, the absolute centre of the defence and Israel's Player of the Year in 2017, suffered a thigh muscle injury in the draw against Kfar Saba and he had to be substituted. The Portuguese did not play at the weekend and the central defender will probably miss the game against the Werkself. His role as the organiser of the defence and captain will probably be taken by Loai Taha. The Israeli international, with twelve caps, will celebrate his 31st birthday at the BayArena on Thursday.