Hapoel tie set for Florence

The UEFA Cup second round second-leg match between Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC and Leeds United AFC is to be played in Florence, Italy.

Fixture agreed
UEFA has agreed to the match being played at the Artemio Franchi stadium on Thursday 14 November after the Italian Football Federation and the city authorities offered to host the match. The club Florentia Viola, born out of the ashes of AC Fiorentina's demise, have also agreed to the fixture.

Sofia fixture
Hapoel had to seek an alternative venue to stage the game, which would have been their home leg, because of the security situation in Israel, which means no international fixtures can be held in the country at the moment. The second leg of their first-round tie against Austrian team FC Kärnten was played in Sofia, Bulgaria. Hapoel lost that match 1-0 but advanced 4-1 on aggregate.

Leeds first
Leeds won through to the second round by virtue of a 2-1 aggregate victory against Ukrainian contenders FC Metalurh Zaporizhya. Leeds will welcome Hapoel for the first leg a fortnight before the return on 31 October.