After winning 1-0 in the first match, Hapoel Be'er Sheva faced the second leg game against Panevėžys, which is currently leading the table in Lithuania. Hapoel Be'er Sheva managed to achieve a 1-1 draw in Lithuania, which was enough for them to advance to the next stage.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva's lineup included: Ofir Marciano, Sagiv Yehezkel, Eitan Tibi, Miguel Vítor, Harel Shalom, Shai Elias, Mariano Bareiro, Ramzi Safouri, Adrian Paun, Kristoffer Peterson, and Patryk Klimala.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva finished 1:1 and advanced to the next stage
In the early minutes, Vitor missed a close header that went wide, and the rest of the first half passed without any significant events except for a major miss by Bareiro in the 25th minute and a mistake on the other side that almost led to a goal for the Lithuanians before the break. At the start of the match, defensive errors by the Israeli team led to several dangerous opportunities for the Lithuanians.
In the 53rd minute, a not fast enough explosive attack by Be'er Sheva ends in a foul by the Lithuanians and a free kick for the Israeli team. Ramzi Safouri raised the ball, which hit the head of a Lithuanian and from there to the crossbar and the head of Miguel Vitor who hit it in and put Be'er Sheva up 0:1 in the game and 0:2 in the summary of the two games. Two minutes later Safouri loses the ball carelessly, but luckily for Be'er Sheva a strong kick by the Lithuanians ends up in a strong kick over the goal.
In the 75th minute, Be'er Sheva once again shook the net with a shot by Patryk Klimala, but the goal was disallowed due to an offside call. In the 79th minute, Panevėžys equalized with a header by the English player, Noel Mbo. In the final minutes, the Lithuanians' high pressure did not produce any results, and Be'er Sheva advanced to the next stage, where they will likely face Levski Sofia from Bulgaria.
The opponent in the next stage: the Bulgarian Levski Sofia or the Macedonian KF Shkupi
Hapoel Be'er Sheva's coach, Elyaniv Barda, said in the press conference ahead of the match: "I think we can expect a tough and challenging game. We need to come in focused and prepared, knowing that we can do it and get the job done," Barda said. "We have a lot of room for improvement, especially in taking advantage of and creating opportunities, and in ball movement, but each game develops differently. It was important for us to win, and we are coming here to regain our confidence and get the job done."
In the next stage, Hapoel Be'er Sheva will face the winner between Levski Sofia from Bulgaria and Shkupi from Macedonia. Currently, Sofia is leading 0-2 from the first game, and in the second game, it's 0-0 at halftime. Additionally, if Sofia advances, the Bulgarian team will come to the Turner Stadium next week without fans due to the use of pyrotechnics and racist chants.
Levski Sofia is currently ranked second in the number of championships in the country with 26 titles, with their city rivals CSKA Sofia in the first place. In the previous season, the team finished fourth in the league, 24 points behind the first place. In the last season, the Bulgarian team reached the Conference League playoffs by defeating PAOK Thessaloniki, the current opponent of Beitar Jerusalem tonight (Thursday), and Hamrun Spartans, the opponent of Maccabi Haifa, in the first qualifying round of the Champions League.
