Dinamo Minsk's impressive record continues as Hearts learn about their European opponents - full match footage

Thursday’s UEFA Conference League tie pits Hearts against a Dinamo Minsk team carrying serious momentum at the summit of the Belarusian Premier League. Dinamo beat Isloch 2-0 at home on Saturday to stay joint-top of the table having lost only one league game since last November.

They meet Hearts in Sumqayit, Azerbaijan, in the opening round of Conference League fixtures this week. The Edinburgh club, by contrast, have endured a torrid start to the 2024/25 campaign and sit bottom of the Scottish Premiership following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Ross County at Tynecastle Park.

The season in Belarus follows the calendar year and Dinamo are joint-top of the league on 47 points alongside Neman. They have two games in hand having played 20 fixtures to date with 10 left to come, and the current champions are now favourites to retain their title. They beat local rivals FC Minsk 2-0 in last week’s city derby and followed up with the same scoreline against Isloch.

Saturday’s victory came courtesy of two superbly-struck goals from the Ivory Coast midfielder Boni Amian. Only 3,580 fans turned out to watch the game at the Dinamo Stadium in Minsk, which has a capacity of 22,246. Hearts coaches are analysing video from the game and full footage can be viewed here: Dinamo Minsk 2-0 Isloch

The pace of league football in Belarus is considerably slower than Scotland and, in European competition, Dinamo’s results are largely in contrast to their domestic progress. They beat Armenian side Pyunik 1-0 on aggregate in the Champions League’s first qualifying round in July. However, a 2-1 aggregate loss to Ludogorets of Bulgaria in the next round saw them drop into the Europa League’s third qualifying round.

There, they met Lincoln Red Imps from Gibraltar and scraped through 3-2 on aggregate after losing the second leg 2-1 away from home. Anderlecht of Belgium beat Dinamo 2-0 on aggregate in last month’s Europa League play-off round, triggering a parachute into the Conference League.