Azerbaijani football club Sabah, featuring Kazakh goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov, suffered a defeat in the first match of the Champions League playoff round. The game ended 2:1 in favor of Israeli club Hapoel Be'er Sheva, reports infohub.kz.
The match took place on neutral ground in Bucharest at the Giulesti-Valentin Stanescu Stadium. The nominal hosts, the Israelis, managed to come from behind. Already in the 6th minute, Serbian striker Veljko Simic put Sabah ahead. However, before the break, in the 43rd minute, Jamaican winger Javon East equalized for Hapoel. The winning goal came in the 79th minute from Serbian forward Igor Zlatanovic.
Kazakh goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov started for Sabah and played the full 90 minutes, wearing the captain's armband. He made three saves. Earlier, Pokatilov was included in the extended squad of the Kazakhstan national team for the upcoming Nations League matches.
The return leg between Sabah and Hapoel will take place on August 25 in Baku. The winner over two legs will advance to the Champions League group stage, while the loser will drop into the Europa League group stage.
Results of other first-leg matches in the Champions League playoff round:
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) - Viking (Norway) - 2:2.
Levski (Bulgaria) - AEK (Greece) - 0:0.
Fenerbahce (Turkey) - Lyon (France) - 1:1.
NEC (Netherlands) - Bodo/Glimt (Norway) - 1:3.
Celtic (Scotland) - LASK (Austria) - 3:0.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva (Israel) - Sabah (Azerbaijan) - 2:1.
Slovan (Slovakia) - Celje (Slovenia) - 1:1.