Be'er Sheva is not afraid of the return leg: "If we won with 10 players, we can go through"

Hapoel Be'er Sheva believes in itself and is convinced that it can overcome Red Star Belgrade in the return leg next week in Serbia, following the home victory (0-1) yesterday in Hungary.

Coach Ran Kozuch has already begun conveying messages to his players, telling the media: "We need to remain humble. Play our game. Press high. Be brave and move the ball better than we did in the first match." There is optimism in the club after Zahi Ahmed secured the victory, largely due to the fact that for more than half an hour, Hapoel Be'er Sheva played with a numerical disadvantage following the sending off of Matan Baltaxa.

"If we beat Red Star with ten players, it is possible to achieve a result that will be enough for us in the return leg," said one of the players yesterday. — "If not for Matan's sending off, we would have won by a higher margin. The momentum was with us. We defended tremendously. Everyone participated in the effort, and if we hadn't remained in a numerical disadvantage, we would have known how to go forward and score a second, which would have made our chances of passing much higher."

At Hapoel Be'er Sheva, several players were noted positively on an individual level, led by Zahi Ahmed, who again scored an important goal, just like in last week's match against Vikingur. Ahmed is in excellent form. He was all over the pitch, both in defense and attack, and Ran Kozuch's decision to trust him is proving to be the right one. Goalkeeper Ofir Marciano was also noted for a tremendous performance, recording several beautiful saves, good footwork, and projecting a lot of calm onto the defense.

Veteran Miguel Vitor, who was close to leaving the club, recorded an outstanding game while raising the level of Itay Rotman alongside him. The club also noted positively Kozuch's decision to bring on Jibril Diop as a third center-back, a defensive move that proved itself.

Kozuch decided to start Eliel Peretz after alternating between him and Hamudi Kanaan in training. Peretz played an excellent game. Igor Zlatanovic was replaced at halftime after taking a blow to the head. Muhammad Abu Rumi, who came on in the second half, helped the defensive game significantly and also received praise.

After the sending off of Matan Baltaxa, Pablo Amador came on as a substitute for the first time. In his debut for Hapoel Be'er Sheva, he delivered a performance that makes the team believe they succeeded with the signing. Amador will start in the return leg in Belgrade.

Even if Hapoel Be'er Sheva manages to advance negotiations for a defender and a midfielder to replace Klings Kangwa, it is impossible to register players between matches. Therefore, the team will have the same squad for next week's return leg, with the exception of the suspended Baltaxa.