Hearts change their Champions League squad: New striker added as one player drops out for Sturm Graz tie
Wouter Vrancken tweaks his group for European match
French forward Amadou Ba-Sy has been added to Hearts’ Champions League squad ahead of Tuesday’s qualifying tie against Sturm Graz. The new signing scored twice in Friday night’s friendly win over Spanish side Rayo Vallecano at Tynecastle Park and earned himself a spot in the European squad as a reward.
Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken has decided to replace the Ugandan international winger Rogers Mato with Ba-Sy. Mato is not travelling for the first leg of the Champions League second qualifiyng round, with the return leg scheduled in Edinburgh next Tuesday, 28 July.
UEFA rules state that two changes to a club’s European squad can be made by 10.59pm the day before the first leg and Hearts have taken advantage to take Ba-Sy to Austria for his goal threat. The squad cannot change between the first and second legs, meaning Mato cannot take part next week.
UEFA rules state: “For the qualifying phase and the play-offs, a club may register a maximum of two new eligible players on List A after the above-mentioned deadlines, provided the quota of locally trained players is respected.”
Recent signings MJ Kamson-Kamara, Josh McPake and Beau Reus did not make the original group named last week and will not be involved. The full 22-man Hearts squad travelling to Austria today is:
Defenders: Christian Borchgrevink, Stephen Kingsley, Stuart Findlay, Jamie McCart, Jordi Altena, Malachi Fagan-Walcott, Harry Milne.
Midfielders: Sabri Guendouz, Tomas Magnusson, Oisin McEntee, Tom Renaud, Blair Spittal.
Forwards: Claudio Braga, Landy Kabore, Amadou Ba-Sy, James Wilson, Alexandros Kyziridis, Calvin Miller, Sabah, Kerjota.
Earlier today, Hearts discovered their list of potential opponents for the next round of the Champions League. If they beat Sturm over two legs, they go through to the competition’s third qualifying round. There, they can be drawn agains Lyon (France), Bodo Glimt (Norway), Olympiacos (Greece) or the winner of Fenerbahce (Turkey) vs Gornik Zabrze (Poland).
If Hearts lost over two legs against Sturm, they drop into the Europa League third qualifying round. The list of opponents there is no much easier. They would face either the winner of St Gallen (Switzerland) v Benfica (Portugal), FC Twente (Netherlands) v Ferencvaros (Hungary) or Qarabag (Azerbaijan) v PFC CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria).
The Jambos face Sturm Graz tomorrow, 21 July, before the return leg at Tynecastle a week later. Austrian opposition will prove tricky to get past, but no matter what happens through the rest of qualification, win here and European league phase football is secure. It gets particularly tough with the Champions League path presenting four sides with vast European experience.
Even in the Europa League, while a tie with Benfica would be one to savour, it would make them underdogs in terms of progression. Logistically, fans may hope to avoid the possibility of a trip to Qarabag, not only for the sturdy side that would await them in such a clash. Flights can range from eight to 11 hours depending on layovers and would be a gruelling match to throw into a busy start to the season.