UEFA Conference League second leg is on Wednesday in Austria

Rapid Vienna intend to embrace the pressure surrounding Wednesday’s UEFA Conference League play-off against Hearts, although they are concerned by the Tynecastle side’s shooting threat. Rapid coach Johannes Thorup admitted both teams are under pressure in the second leg following last week’s 2-2 draw in Edinburgh. This is their last chance to secure league-stage European football until Christmas.

Rapid have sold nearly 22,000 tickets at their Allianz Stadion with more than 1,000 travelling fans expected to attend. The Austrians scored first through Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao in last week’s match at Tynecastle, however Hearts rallied early in the second half. They equalised with Josh McPake’s deflected goal before James Wilson struck a spectacular 30-yard effort high into the net. Nikolaus Wurmbrand’s leveller keeps the tie finely balanced ahead of the return match.

Hearts came second in lasst season’s Scottish Premiership but have been eliminated from both the Champions League qualifiers and Europa League qualifiers this summer. Rapid, who finished fifth in last season’s Austrian Bundesliga, have beaten Santa Coloma of Andorra and Estonian side Paide in Conference League qualifying. Speaking at his club’s training ground in Vienna, Thorup outlined his thoughts on this tie. “I hope that both teams have pressure, otherwise it would be a bit boring to be in the football world,” said the Dane.

“There's no one who has expectations on our behalf, but probably also the same for Hearts. They had a fantastic season last season. Of course, when you are so close and you have the chance for even bigger competitions than the Conference League, you hope for that. This is the last chance. We did everything we could last season to just get into the qualification for the Conference League, so this is also our last chance. Where is the most pressure? We have to enjoy it.

“I expect quite a bit of energy [from Hearts]. Especially the moments when they feel on top in the game, they bring a lot of energy into the game. For us in Edinburgh, there were some difficult moments, especially in the second half. I think we showed as a team and we also found out as a coaching staff that with our game and the way that we play, we can dominate them. I was especially pleased with how few chances they had.

“Most of their shots came from big distance, which in football is not a really big chance. I was pleased with the way we limited them to only that. Of course, they have a weapon from big distance, which we have to be aware of when that's the way of defending. Overall, a game a little bit like I expected, where I hoped that we could be in control, I think we were for most of the game. I hope we can take that into the performance tomorrow, but also be a little bit more dangerous in front of goal.”

There won’t be special plans made for Wilson or any Hearts players, but Thorup will warn the Rapid players not to allow the visitors space to shoot from distance. “We don't make special plans. Of course, we highlight the players that give a little bit of a different threat,” said Thorup. “We know the Hearts team have a lot of players who like to shoot from distance. It's not only Wilson. We spoke about it also before the game because then there's something about making sure that we defend as far away from our own goal as possible so the distance is bigger.

“There's something about making sure we're first in the space for rebounds or potential rebounds, and there's something for the goalkeeper to be aware of because it's a little bit of a different style. It's probably the team that we have played against in Europe but also domestic league that takes the most shots from positions where we don't see it that often. We have to prepare the players for it and we are prepared. He [Wilson] is not the only one who can do it and I think there's more threats in the team.”

Rapid will prepare for the possibility of the tie going to penalties. “I told them today that if they expect to be on the list for the game tomorrow, then it would be a good idea to train on that today,” said Thorup. “No pressure, but you can easily train your technique.” Regardless of scoreline, the Vienna coach warned that there will be a noisy atmosphere inside the Allianz. He felt his team kept Tynecastle relatively quiet last week.

“For the last 15 minutes where we really control the game, there's not much noise at the stadium,” he stated. “At our stadium, it's a little bit different because there's full support for 90 minutes. It can be sometimes not really dependent on the result of the game. We'll be there for 90 minutes and it's something that we really use in our best moments, but also in our moments where we suffer a little bit. It normally gives us the energy to survive it, but also to really benefit from it in the good moments.”