The draw for the group stage of the Europa League has revealed that four teams will travel to Bucharest to face Hapoel Beer Sheva, the Israeli champions.
Due to the ongoing conflicts in Israel, Hapoel Beer Sheva has been unable to host European matches in their home country and has chosen to hold their games at Rapid’s stadium in Bucharest, starting with the Champions League playoffs.
They have already played one match in Giulești against Sabah Baku in the Champions League playoffs and will also play four matches in the main phase of the Europa League after their elimination by Sabah.
Today, Hapoel learned about their opponents in the Europa League group stage. The draw included two teams from each of the four pots, with one match at home and the other away.
Teams Visiting Bucharest for Europa League Matches
In Pot 1, Hapoel was drawn with Juventus and AZ Alkmaar, bringing the renowned Italian team to Bucharest!
From Pot 2, the Israeli champions will face Union SG, where Romanian player Darius Olaru plays, and Dinamo Zagreb. They will host the Croatian side in Bucharest.
In Pot 3, they will encounter Bournemouth and Celta Vigo, with the latter featuring Romanian goalkeeper Ionuț Radu.
Finally, from Pot 4, Hapoel will compete against Beşiktaş and OFI Creta, with the home match against the Greeks.
Thus, the four teams visiting Bucharest to compete against Hapoel Beer Sheva are Juventus, Dinamo Zagreb, Celta Vigo, and OFI Creta.
The match schedule will be announced once UEFA finalizes it.
Tickets Available for Romanian Fans!
On August 20, Vlad Andronescu, president of CS Rapid, the club managing the Giulești stadium, confirmed that Hapoel will open its doors to Romanian fans for the group stage matches, unlike the previous duel with Sabah where only Israeli spectators could enter.
“The stadium will be open to Romanian fans for the group matches. We have confirmation from Beer Sheva and UEFA. For the playoff match, it was Hapoel and UEFA’s decision that Romanian fans could not purchase tickets. Security and the Israeli club’s concerns led to this decision, as they wanted to observe how the organization and security measures would work with a limited number of spectators initially.
They took a cautious approach, wanting to avoid any risks during this first event organized at our stadium. To my knowledge, tickets will be sold on a Romanian ticketing platform, with a certain number of tickets available. I am not aware of the exact number or how they will be released, but they will definitely be accessible to Romanian fans,” stated the official from Giulești.
