Beersheva crowned Israeli champions

Hapoel Beersheva ended a 40-year wait at the weekend when they were crowned Israeli league champions.

A 3-1 win over Bnei Sakhnin saw them claim their first league win since 1976, as they finished two points ahead of Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Club owner Alona Barkat said: “We have waited for this for so long. This is an amazing city with amazing fans and we were desperate to give this to them. A lot of things fell into place for us this season. We didn’t know how the season would end, but we knew it would be good.

“We know what we want to do ahead of next season, but now is the time to celebrate.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also congratulated the team, taking to twitter to say: “I congratulate the team for this immense achievement, Beersheva is now not only the cyber capital, but also the soccer capital. Well done.”

Beersheva will now enter next season’s Champions League at the second qualifying round stage, where they could face the likes of Celtic. The draw for the tie will be made on 20 June, with the two-legged ties taking place on 12-13 & 19-20 July. Progress to the third qualifying round tie would secure them at least a place in the Europa League play-offs.