Beitar and Be’er Sheva crash out of Europa League

Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Be’er Sheva both crashed out of the Europa League on Thursday night after they suffered second leg defeats in their respective second qualifying round ties.

Beitar’s chances were always minimal to say the least, given their 5-1 drubbing in last week’s first leg, which was marred by crowd trouble. Needing to score at least four times without conceding against Belgian side, Charleroi, the Israelis did take a 16th minute through Omer Atzily, but once Neeskens Kebano equalised two minutes before half-time, it once again all went wrong for the home side. Goals from Enes Saglik, Dieumerci Ndongala and Florent Stevance wrapped up a 4-1 win for the visitors, and a 9-2 aggregate lead.

Coach Slobodan Drapic said: “We played well in the first half of both matches, but we didn’t see the Beitar we would like to see in the second halves. We are missing several key players and I’m sure that once they come back we will be a much better team.”

Things could even get worse for the club as they await to hear any punishment they may face from UEFA following the disgraceful scenes in Belgium last week.

Be’er Sheva went into their second leg tie against Swiss side FC Thun having drawn last week’s first leg in Israel 1-1. John Ogu put them in control of the tie when he opened the scoring in the sixth minute, but Shir Tzedek’s sending-off just 13 minutes later left them in trouble. Nelson Ferreira pulled Thun level to level the tie at 2-2, before he claimed the second of the evening in the 72nd minute to seal Beersheba’s exit.

Both losses mean Israel’s only representative in the third qualifying round will be Ironi Kiryat Shmona, they play Czech side Slovan Liberec, with the first leg on Thursday.