Possible Hearts and Hibs opponents in European play-off draws confirmed: Glamour ties and Tony Bloom factor
Here’s who Hearts and Hibs could play in European play-offs later this months.
Hearts and Hibs have discovered who possibly awaits them in the play-off rounds of the Europa and Conference League.
The Jambos were in both draws, and should they defeat Benfica in the Europa League’s third qualifying round, they will be seeded team against either FC Thun (SUI) vs Víkingur Reykjavík (ISL), OFI Crete FC (GRE), AGF Aarhus (DEN) vs Sabah FC (AZE) or GNK Dinamo (CRO) vs FK Kauno Žalgiris (LTU). A drop down into the Conference if they are defeated by the Portuguese giants will see them take on Atalanta (ITA), Freiburg (GER), Panathinaikos (GRE) vs CSKA Sofia 1948 (BUL), Paide (EST) vs Rapid Vienna (AUT) and Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA) vs St Gallen (SUI).
Hibs are an unseeded side in the Conference and they’ll face Bohemians (IRE) vs Midtjylland (DEN), Monaco (FRA), IFK Goteborg (SWE) vs Gent (BEL), Brighton (ENG), or Pafos (CYP) vs RB Salzburg (AUT)if they progress past Shkendija of North Macedonia. Brighton are owned by Hearts investor Tony Bloom. Play-off ties will take place across August 20 and August 27 for these competitions barring any necessary scheduling changes.
Both draws take place on Monday with the Europa League at noon, followed by the Conference at 1pm, as both sides seek passage to the lucrative league phases of UEFA competition. Hearts lost their second round qualifier 6-0 on aggregate to Sturm Graz in a tough start to life under head coach Wouter Vrancken and Hibs edged their way past Kosovan minnows Malisheva 4-3.
Laurent Mendy on joining Hearts
Premiership business didn’t get off to a much better start for the Gorgie side who lost two late goals in a 2-1 loss against Aberdeen at Pittodrie. New signing Laurent Mendy debuted in the game and said of defeat: “We just can't concede like this, really and truly. You just have to concentrate for the whole 90 minutes.
“It's just naive and going forward when you shouldn't have. Like the manager said, there's a learning curve. We're going to learn and do better next time. He wasn't too pleased, but at the same time he also gave us confidence that there's going to be another game. So we forget about it now and we move on.”
Hibs lost by the same scoreline in their opening game as Motherwell prevailed 2-1 at Easter Road. Both sides played Conference League qualifiers on Thursday, and David Gray’s side looked likeliest to find a second half winner after penalties for each team, but Ibrahim Said struck late to leave them defeated.
David Gray on Hibs 1-2 Motherwell
Gray said: "Second half was much more like us and then we have the big moment in the game. I thought there was only one team that was going to win the game with the chances we created. We lose it through naivety. The goal we lose is really poor. Yes, people make mistakes, but don't make two or three.
“We also need to be more clinical. You need to take your chances when you're on top. We can't feel sorry for ourselves with a European game on Thursday night. We've dropped points today and that's really tough to take.”