Hearts prepare changes for Sturm Graz

Wouter Vrancken is preparing changes to Hearts’ starting line-up for Tuesday’s Champions League return match against Sturm Graz. Facing a 4-0 deficit from last week’s first leg in Austria, the Belgian is set to tweak his team. Right-back Christian Borchgrevink is nursing a minor injury and has missed training. Jordi Altena is poised to deputise if needed, while there are likely to be alterations further forward.

The French trio of Sabri Guendouz, Tom Renaud and Amadou Ba-Sy are all pushing for starting places and Vrancken knows he has some key decisions to make. Guendouz played 45 minutes of Friday’s friendly win at Raith Rovers, while Renaud and Ba-Sy were taken off after an hour. Renaud would offer composure in central midfield, Guendouz is a danger in the attacking midfield role and Ba-Sy could feature in the striker position at some stage.

Sturm are firm favourites to progress to the third qualifying round following their overwhelming first-leg triumph. Whoever goes through will meet the winner of the tie between Turkish side Fenerbahce and Polish club Gornik Zabrze. Fenerbahce are 1-0 ahead from the first leg in Turkey. The losers drop into the Europa League and will face the winner of Swiss side St Gallen against Portuguese giants Benfica. The Swiss are 2-1 ahead from the first leg in Switzerland.

Vrancken admitted Hearts players who were taken off against Raith all have a chance of playing against Sturm. “I think there are players pushing. You saw that in the game against Raith Rovers,” said the head coach. “Some guys need to step up, like I said already, while others maybe need more time to adapt, either to the group or to the way we play. But there are players pushing, so I would consider everybody for tomorrow. I think the guys who played less than 90 minutes are all being considered. They can play or have a role in tomorrow's game. Chris Borchgrevink we have to see day by day, but it's nothing serious.”

Hearts must improve defensively to have any hope of upsetting Sturm. However, they created numerous scoring chances in the Liebenauer Stadium, where they had 19 shots at goal. “We have to increase our efficiency. That's the most important thing,” said Vrancken. “Especially when you look at the first half, it's incredible that we were [1-0] behind at half-time. It's hard to accept, but we have to learn from it. We had to do better in both boxes. Especially from the set-plays in the first half, and particularly in the offensive box, we had to be more efficient. We have to leave that behind us and make sure we're a little bit better in the boxes tomorrow.

“You have to take both. You have to take confidence from the way we played and encourage the players to do it again, maybe even better. On the other hand, you also have to point out the things we definitely didn't do well enough. Defensively, we need more stability, and we need more efficiency in both boxes. In the attacking box it's also about self-confidence. It's about the confidence for the strikers to put the ball in the net. Defensively, we have to learn the lessons and do better.

“Not only in training, but also in the friendly games. Like I said, it's only been three-and-a-half or four weeks maximum with these guys. It's difficult, and maybe not really honest, to judge them already on everything we want to see. Some guys adapt sooner than others. Some adapt quickly, some need more time. Some were fit, some weren't fit. But the 11 players on the pitch tomorrow all have to believe in a special night. That's how we have to start the game.

“We have to be pretty close to perfect, especially in terms of efficiency. When you want to make up four goals, everything has to go right, particularly in both boxes. You have to be really clinical in both boxes when you want to score four goals without conceding one. That's the most important thing. I think between the boxes we were pretty good, even in Graz, despite the result. But if you want to have a historic night, then everything has to be almost perfect in the boxes.”

The Sturm squad is significantly more experienced than Hearts when it comes to European football. They played in continental competition and reached league stages and group phases in each of the last four seasons. Vrancken knows they are in control of this tie and explained that he expects them to approach the game at Tynecastle in a similar manner to the one in Graz.

“I think they've found their way. They have their formation and their way of playing,” he said. “They have a straightforward mentality with a lot of pressure, so I think they'll do the same again. It's part of their DNA, so we have to be ready for it. We were also ready in Graz, but now we have to use the spaces better and try to control the game even more than we did in the first half.”

In terms of major scoreline overhauls, the odds are stacked against Hearts. Barcelona’s historic comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 is the only time in Champions League history that a 4-0 first-leg deficit has been wiped out. Vrancken has some experience of fighting against the odds from his time managing Genk in Belgium. “Once, in a derby game in Belgium, we were 3-0 down at half-time [against St Truiden in 2023] and it finished 3-3, so that was a little bit of a remontada. Let's hope we can do something similar tomorrow.”