Hearts 0-2 Sturm Graz: Player ratings, what was missing, injury concern, and what comes next in Europe

They say practice makes perfect and, for Hearts, it is a phrase applicable to the Champions League. Twenty years the Edinburgh club waited to play qualifiers in UEFA’s premier club tournament, but their adventure is over before July is out. Sturm Graz coasted through the second leg of their second qualifying round, winning 2-0 to progress on a 6-0 aggregate scoreline. The six-goal deficit is Hearts’ biggest defeat in a two-legged European tie.

Similar to the first leg, which ended 4-0 in Graz last week, Hearts enjoyed the majority of possession but lacked a cutting edge in the final third and some dynamism in midfield. They moved the ball well and lacked nothing in terms of desire. Recent signings Sabri Guendouz and Calvin Miller threatened to do some damage without fully igniting, which was a microcosm of their team across the two legs of this tie. Sturm struck the evening’s first goal on 64 minutes through winger Simon Seidl, and followed up moments later when defender Emran Soglo scored via an inadvertent rebound.

The Tynecastle side played Champions League qualifiers at nearby Murrayfield in 2006, facing Bosnians Siroki Brijeg and Greek giants AEK Athens. This was the first ever match in the modern-day version of the tournament to take place in Gorgie. They need more involvement at this level if they are to adapt to its tempo and ruthlessness. After inflicting irreversible damage on Hearts in Graz, the Austrians took care of business sufficiently in Edinburgh. They now meet Turkish giants Fenerbahce or Polish side Gornik Zabrze in the third qualifying round.

This defeat was Hearts’ first at home inside 90 minutes in 458 days. There was further bad news with both Stephen Kingsley and Alexandros Kyziridis going off injured. They could both be rated doubtful for Saturday’s Premiership opener against Aberdeen. Kingsley seemed to hurt a hamstring, while Kyziridis clutched his calf/ankle area after going down in the second half - although the Greek’s issue was confirmed as more cramp-related after the match.

The only four-goal overhaul following a Champions League first leg was completed by Barcelona in that famous tie against Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. For some Scottish flavour, only Dunfermline had managed to overturn a four-goal first leg defeat in European competition. That came back in 1962 when they beat Valencia 6-2 in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Both pieces of information demonstrated the difficulty of this task facing Hearts.

Supporters turned out in numbers as Tynecastle welcomed another sellout crowd. Most Jambos turned up more in hope than expectation, and there was always a noisy bunch of around 500 travelling Austrians in the away end to compete with. For Sturm, this game was about not resting on laurels after the first-leg success. Their opponents simply had to go for the jugular while trying to avoid any defensive concessions.

Rain tipped onto the pitch before and after kick-off, and Hearts were out to avoid being washed out of the Champions League in the first cycle. There was an understandable intent to make Tynecastle’s first ever Champions League fixture memorable. The hosts started the game confidently and controlled possession inside the Graz half. However, they relied on departing goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow to prevent them going 1-0 down on 17 minutes. Visiting striker Seedy Jatta flicked on a long ball, home defender Malachi Fagan-Walcott miskicked, and Szymon Wlodarczyk pounced for an instinctive shot which Schwolow blocked with his leg.

Blair Spittal’s left-footed shot landed in the Roseburn Stand five minutes later. Although Hearts were the better team, Sturm didn’t look unduly flustered with their four-goal cushion. They were happy piling forward on the counter-attack and fashioned another opening via Jacob Hodl’s through ball to Jatta. His effort was saved by Schwolow, and the German also repelled Wlodarczyk’s follow-up header. Jatta put the ball in the net moments later, however his effort was disallowed for a foul on Milne by the forward after a touchline monitor review by Latvian referee Andris Treimanis.

By half-time, the match statistics told their own story. Hearts had 64 per cent possession but no shots on target. Their opponents had forced Schwolow into six saves by comparison. Miller’s cross in the lead-up to half-time caused confusion in the visitors’ six-yard area as maroon shirts scrambled to force the ball into the net, but Sturm did enough to clear. When they did spring forward, 19-year-old Hodl was invariably the architect as the outstanding player afield.

Kingsley was forced off by an apparent hamstring injury in first-half stoppage-time as Stuart Findlay entered the fray. Hearts continued pressing after the interval and Miller forced the Sturm goalkeeper Daniil Khudiakov into his first meaningful save with an 18-yard strike on 57 minutes. Oisin McEntee’s header from Spittal’s corner came close before Sturm took the lead on the night.

A long kickout from Khudiakov was headed on by captain Jon Gorenc Stankovic into the path of Seidl. He took a touch to ram and emphatic finish low into the net via Schwolow’s right-hand post on 64 minutes. Four minutes later, full-back Soglo scampered forward to exchange passes with Wlodarczyk and shoot. Schwolow blocked the first attempt but the rebound ricocheted in off Soglo and bounced into the net.

With that, Hearts’ Champions League experience was over. Hopefully not for another two decades, for they have aspirations to compete more often in this environment. Kyziridis went down and was substituted with an apparent injury late in the game. New coach Wouter Vrancken is still working to implement his style of play and needs many more weeks to do so on this evidence. For now, it’s a drop into the Europa League to meet the winner of the tie between Swiss side St Gallen and Portuguese giants Benfica. The second leg of that is in Lisbon on Thursday, with St Gallen 2-1 ahead from the first meeting.