Real madrid's advantage grows as hapoel tel aviv's sofia exile complicated by arena issues

The Real Madrid-Hapoel Tel Aviv EuroLeague playoff series just got a lot more favorable for the Spanish giants. Not only will Los Blancos' fans be allowed to fill the Movistar Arena in Madrid for the home games, but now the Israeli team's logistic nightmare may severely limit their own attendance.

Hapoel's sofia exile complicated further

Hapoel Tel Aviv has had to play many of its home games in Sofia, Bulgaria, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. But now, the Arena 8888, where they've been based, has other events scheduled for May 5 and 7 - the dates of the potential third and fourth games in the series. As a result, Hapoel may have to settle for the much smaller Botevgrad Arena, some 60 miles outside Sofia, with a capacity of just 3,200. That's a far cry from their usual 12,000-seat home in Sofia.

This development doubles as a boon for Real Madrid. Not only will they get to play in front of their home crowd, but they'll now face a Hapoel team that will likely be severely under-strength in terms of support.