Hibs need a monumental European performance in a city with 'more statues than people' as history beckons
Jamie McGrath return to fitness gives David Gray attacking options as visitors defend 2-1 lead
Skopje is a city obsessed with history, its heroes hewn in marble and bronze in virtually every available corner of public space. Hibs fans marching in numbers on the birthplace of Alexander the Great, the legendary warrior immortalised in a couple of enormous statues dominating the skyline, would certainly love to see their own heroes turn in a monumental performance here tonight.
The stakes are as high as the very pinnacle of the Warrior on Horseback sculpture planted the middle of Macedonia Square. As you’d expect for the second leg of a tie that means so much to both clubs, there is an enormous amount of excitement, energy and, yes, uncertainty surrounding tonight’s meeting with KF Shkendija.
Hibs leading 2-1 from first leg at Easter Road
With Hibs leading this third qualifying round contest by a single goal, courtesy of their hard-fought 2-1 win at Easter Road last Thursday night, the Scots carry some sort of advantage into the National Arena Todor Proeski, which has become a home away from home for the host club, their own ground in the town of Tetovo falling short of UEFA requirements. There’s a certain irony, as the Shkendija staff freely admit, to their familiarity with a stadium that is officially home to their greatest rival, FK Vardar.
Proud of their Albanian roots as a club, nursing a semi-permanent sense of grievance against the North Macedonian football authorities, the hosts are certainly a fiery bunch. That, as much as any heat warnings in place over Skopje, will be an obvious concern to David Gray and his coaching team.
As for what his counterpart expects from the visitors, well, Shkendija boss Artim Polozani is honest when questioned about whether he’s prepared for a Hibs team to sit in and defend – or to go for a goal that would all but kill the tie.
“I don’t know,” said Polozani, who had to travel all of 15 yards from the team hotel for last night’s training session at the venue. “We have to wait and see how Hibernian will play against us, to be honest.
“But I can tell you this. We are prepared for both tactics. We have to be.
“Now, I don’t expect them to just defend, personally. But you have to read the game and make decisions based on how Hibernian play.
“They have only had one away game in Europe this season, against Malisheva. But that was a first leg, so they know they could have the second leg at home – which means we can’t look at that game and say: ‘Oh, this is how Hibernian will play.’ But we are prepared.
“We are ready if they attack us. We are prepared if they sit deep and defend. How the game goes will be about how Shkendija play.”
Malisheva debt to be repaid
From someone less affable than Polozani, mention of Malisheva would have felt like a low blow. A reminder of that 2-0 loss in Pristina in the very first game of season 2026-27.
A lot of the Hibs fans travelling here for this game were there for the brutal disappointment of that loss just over the Kosovan border. A great many of those supporters will hope to have their fingers hovering over confirmation buttons on flights and accommodation for either Gent or Gothenburg later tonight.
The fact that Gray’s men head into this game off the back of making yet more history, becoming the first Hibs side EVER to beat Rangers at Ibrox in three consecutive seasons, should give the visitors confidence. Set against that is the fact that they’re yet to keep a clean sheet – something that would help their cause enormously here – five fixtures into the current campaign.
The return to fitness of Jamie McGrath makes an enormous difference. As does having Callum Wright available.
Owen Elding, meanwhile, continues to look like a player capable of making the difference in tight encounters. Witness the decision making and execution that gave Hibs the chance to break away and score that late winner in Govan on Sunday.
What will they face here tonight? Proven European opponents who made it through the league phases of this competition before being knocked out by Samsunspor last season. And a team looking to rely on that experience.
“We need one goal to equalise and send the game into extra time,” said Polozani. “But why not win the tie during the 90 minutes? The psychological part of this game will be important.
“We are prepared for this. We have been through this before. But, of course, we must be careful because we know that Hibernian have their own ambitions to reach the next stage.”
No Hibs side has ever reached the league/group stage of European football. In the modern era, the Edinburgh club – such proud pioneers in the early days of UEFA competition – haven’t troubled the scorers.
Gray has already achieved something remarkable simply by qualifying for two consecutive cracks at continental competition, something that hadn’t been achieved in 50 years. But he has been consistent and insistent in declaring his intention to go much, much further.
Hitting the play-off round and then being eliminated by a big hitter is generally considered par for the average Scottish Premiership club. Last year, Hibs pushed Legia Warsaw harder than anyone expected.
Having avoided the nightmare draw in the next round, which would surely have been either Monaco or Brighton, they can arguably see a path to the UEFA Conference League proper. And the £5 million or so that would deliver.
First things first, though. Get through this one. However it gets done, whatever it takes, regardless of points for artistic impression.
Leave the aesthetics to the city planners of Skopje, where the unofficial motto ‘More Statues than People’ doesn’t feel like very much of an exaggeration.