JERUSALEM: Israeli side Hapoel Beer Sheva drew 0-0 at home against Bulgaria's Levski Sofia in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League.

In the presence of 9,000 spectators at the Toto Turner Stadium in Beer Sheva, Levski narrowly missed taking the lead twice in the first half on Thursday evening. Brazilian Ricardinho's shot in the 30th minute was thwarted by goalkeeper Ofir Marciano, and ten minutes later, another Brazilian, Welton, missed a seemingly certain goal.

Marciano showcased his goalkeeping prowess again in the 54th minute, denying a header by Brazilian Ronaldo, reports Xinhua. Late efforts from Beer Sheva's Bulgarian international Yoan Stoyanov and Amir Ganah were capably handled by Levski's goalkeeper Plamen Andreev.

The return leg is set for August 17 in Sofia. The team with the superior aggregate score will square off against Eintracht Frankfurt in the playoffs, contested over two legs.

In other matches, Tobol of Kazakhstan and Derry of Israel 1-0, Struga of North Macedonia 3-1, Sabah of Azerbaijan overcame Partizan of Serbia 2-0 while Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe of Romania drew 1-1 with Aktobe of Kazakhstan.