Our prediction for this Champions League match:
Dinamo Zagreb
Match Time & Date:
24/07/2018
02:00 PM
Prediction: 1-0
Hapoel Beer Sheva
Dinamo Zagreb and Hapoel Be’er Sheva face each other at Stadion Maksimir in the first leg of the Champions League second qualifying round. The Croatian champions did not participate in the Champions League last term, and, no doubt, they want to return to the elite competition. Nenad Bjelica’s men aim to get their job in the first leg, but Tuesday’s football match against Hapoel Be’er Sheva will be anything but a walk in the park for the hosts. The Israeli champions, on the other hand, eliminated Flora in the first qualifying round and they do not want to stop now. Seeing that the first leg will be played in the capital of Croatia, Dinamo Zagreb are seen as favourites to win the match, but we do not believe that they are going to roll over Hapoel Be’er Sheva, who have been playing an important role in European competitions in recent years.
Highlighted Player (Isaac Cuenca):
Isaac Cuenca is a product of Barcelona football academy “La Masia”. Cuenca scored two goals in two appearances for Barcelona B and he made his official debut for the first team on October 25, 2011 in a 1-0 win over Granada. However, after failing to establish himself as a first-team regular at Barca, the pacey winger signed a loan deal with Ajax in 2013, but he made no more than three appearances in Eredivisie for the Dutch club.
After ending his loan spell with the Amsterdammers, Isaac Cuenca returned to Spain and signed a one-year deal with Deportivo La Coruna. The 179-cm tall footballer, who was born in Reus, Spain, on April 27, 1991 left the Galician side at the end of the 2014/2015 season and he played for the likes of Bursaspor and Granada before joining Israeli outfit Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
Issac Cuenca has two caps for Spain U21 team, but he has yet to make his senior debut with La Roja.
Highlighted Team (Hapoel Beer Sheva):
Hapoel Be'er Sheva are an Israeli football club based in Beersheba. The club was founded in 1949 and they play their home games at Turner Stadium. The capacity of the stadium is 16 126 and it was opened in September, 2015.
Hapoel wear red shirts and white shorts when playing on home soil and they play in blue shirts and black shorts on the travels. The club played their first game against Mefalsim and they defeated their opponents 5-4. Back then no more than five teams competed in the Israeli league and it has to be noted that the likes of Hapoel Rishon LeZion, Hapoel Kfar Saba and Hapoel Ramat Gan were other teams that participated in the league.
In 1975 Hapoel Be’er Sheva won their first Israeli Premier League trophy, with the team finishing the season three points clear of Maccabi Netanya. In the 2015/2016 season they won their third domestic trophy, leaving Maccabi Tel Aviv three points clear of them in the standings. Shalon Avitan is one of the most notable footballers who played for the club.
