From 11am onwards Hapoel Beer-Sheva have been at the forefront of the thoughts of most Celtic supporters.
The team with the funny sounding name suddenly stand between Celtic and the £30m available from the group stage of the Champions League.
After speaking to an Israeli friend there an be no doubt about the quality of Celtic’s opponents, they don’t have much in the way of a European pedigree but they are deadly serious, reaching the group stage means as much to Hapoel as it does to Celtic.
Winning the Israeli title was seen as stage one for the husband and wife Barkat team, husband Eli is a genuine billionaire from e-commerce while his wide Alona has shaken up Israeli football with her determination to succeed.
Their Turner Stadium has been compared to Tynecastle and was constructed just a year ago. With a hostile support and high summer temperatures it won’t make for a pleasant evening for Brendan Rodgers side as they attempt to shake off the demons caused by Maribor and Malmo.
On the park the fact that Hapoel were unseeded in today’s draw shouldn’t be dwelt on. Although they have no European pedigree the Israeli champions went into this season’s competition at the third qualifying round- one stage further forward that Celtic.
A 1-0 aggregate win over Olympiakos deserves respect at any level if Celtic achieved that sort of result it would certainly be something to crow about with Hapoel travelling to Glasgow with the confidence of that result to call upon.