Sabah's dramatic qualification for the UEFA Champions League league phase has become one of the main talking points in the Israeli sports media. Local outlets focused not only on what happened on the pitch but also on the emotional scenes involving Hapoel Beer-Sheva players after the final whistle.
As reported by İdman.Biz, Sport5 correspondent Hadar Yaakobi, who was in Baku, described an extremely difficult atmosphere inside the Israeli team's dressing room following their 5-2 extra-time defeat.
The outlet noted that Hapoel had virtually begun to feel like a Champions League team as they held the result they needed until the final seconds of regulation time. According to people close to the club, the feeling that a historic achievement was already within their grasp may have contributed to the subsequent collapse.
Hapoel admitted that the team lost concentration in the decisive minutes, began making more mistakes in possession and stopped playing their usual football. The Israeli side also felt they had allowed Sabah to dictate the game, surrendered control of midfield and began operating under increasing psychological pressure.
Sport5 described what followed as a sudden transition from an almost accomplished historic achievement to one of the most painful moments in the club's history.
The scenes after the match were particularly emotional. According to the outlet's correspondent, there was complete silence in the Hapoel dressing room, with players unable to hold back their tears. The team had been only seconds away from reaching the main stage of the Champions League for the first time in their history, only to see that dream disappear within a matter of minutes.
The players' emotional state was also described by Walla Sport correspondent Yaniv Tuchman, who was in Baku. According to his account, Hapoel's bus was waiting immediately outside the dressing-room exit. After overcoming the initial shock and wiping away their tears, the players took their seats almost without saying a word and headed back to the hotel.
People at the Israeli club described the journey from the stadium to the hotel as one of the most difficult the players had ever experienced. One team representative told Walla that some of them might need years to fully comprehend the scale of the opportunity they had let slip away.
Israeli journalists also highlighted a notable moment after the match. Sabah players who encountered members of the opposing team while leaving the stadium tried to support and console the Israelis.
The reasons why Hapoel failed to survive the closing stages of regulation time and then completely lost the initiative in extra time have also been widely debated in Israel.
Former Israel international Itay Shechter, speaking in the Sport5 studio, concluded that Hapoel's players were simply "falling off their feet" by the decisive stage of the match. He pointed to the team's lack of squad depth as well as the enforced losses of Igor Zlatanovic and captain Miguel Vitor.
According to Shechter, those setbacks significantly reduced Hapoel's options to strengthen the team from the bench. In extra time, the visitors' physical condition stood in sharp contrast to Sabah, who received an additional emotional boost after scoring the late goal that kept their Champions League hopes alive.
Another prominent Israeli football figure, Eli Guttman, was even more critical. Analysing the match on Sport5, he said Hapoel did not deserve to advance. In his assessment, the team failed to produce its usual football in Baku and could not cope with the psychological pressure.
Guttman particularly highlighted Sabah's character. In his view, the mentally stronger team advanced — the one that continued fighting even when the situation appeared almost hopeless. Once Sabah scored the goal that forced extra time, the Azerbaijani side's superiority became increasingly clear.
The emotional impact of the defeat was evident across almost all of the morning coverage in the Israeli media. Walla described the night after the game as one that "shook" the team, Sport5 portrayed the defeat as one of the cruellest scenarios imaginable in football, while ynet reported that Hapoel were now trying to "pick up the pieces" following their dramatic elimination.
Hapoel had indeed been just moments away from a historic achievement, but Sabah refused to stop attacking, forced the match into extra time and then took full advantage of their opponents' physical and psychological decline.
The Baku club eventually won 5-2 and secured a 6-4 aggregate victory. Sabah reached the Champions League league phase for the first time in their history, while the Israeli champions will continue their European campaign in the UEFA Europa League.
