But that was as good as it got for the Israeli champions and an error from Goresh allowed Besiktas to win it late on through Cenk Tosun - the Israeli No. 1 allowing his low shot to slip through his grasp and into the net.
Nonetheless, Hapoel coach Barak Bakhar was proud of his team. He said: "We experienced a wonderful journey which began last July and ended today.
“We competed in every match and showed that anything is possible. In virtually every game we faced teams that on paper were better and richer than us, but my players proved that they have an amazing character and showed that we are a very strong team of winners.
"I’m proud of every one of them. Now the real challenge will be to channel these energies as we move forward.”
