Hearts were outclassed by Portuguese giants Benfica as the Tynecastle side fell to their joint-heaviest European defeat in the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie.
Image source, SNSHearts have lost all three of their fixtures so far this season
Andy Halliday believes former club Hearts face a stern examination against "Champions League outfit" Benfica.
The Portuguese side host the Tynecastle club in Thursday's Europa League third qualifying round first leg.
"They're a Champions League outfit," Halliday said of Benfica on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast. "I think they've proven that over the years.
"They got to the play-off round in the Champions League last year. Rangers have faced Benfica more than a couple of times over the last few years and been on the wrong end of scorelines. They've got a couple of draws within that.
"Take Hearts in the present moment, not being at their strongest either, and even if they were at their strongest, I think it's going to be a difficult evening.
"And unfortunately, and I really hope I'm wrong, I think it's going to be a big scoreline tonight."
Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesBenfica manager Marco Silva admits he watched on as Hearts came within minutes of a first top-flight title in more than 60 years so is aware of the dangers posed by the Tynecastle club.
The sides meet in the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie in Lisbon on Thursday night after Hearts dropped down from the Champions League following a thumping 6-0 by Sturm Graz.
Silva, who left Fulham to replace Jose Mourinho as Benfica boss this summer, said: "I've been in the Premier League so many years and the Scottish league is something that we followed last season.
"I even remember watching the last game and the amazing story about the last game and the chances for Hearts to become champions after so many years.
"Of course, it's going to be dangerous. The atmosphere, when you arrive at the second game, it's going to be there for sure. But it's important to be strong, to show our quality, but also respect for the quality they have, quality in the last season as well.
"A lot of changes, the manager has changed as well and they need time to adapt, but they were competing to be in the Champions League.
"We respect them, respect the competition and of course they are going to make our lives difficult for sure and we have to be ready. We have to be at our best level to be ready to compete and to win it."
Image source, SNSWouter Vrancken has been speaking to BBC Scotland before Hearts face Benfica away in the first leg of their Europa League third-round qualifier on Thursday.
Here are the key points:
Vrancken sees the game as a challenge but also an opportunity to "show how we can stick together, work together and try to do something with the ball".
He adds: "When you're only focused on defending and just kicking balls away, then it's a difficult game."
He says there will be "no mental fatigue" from the players after the late loss at Aberdeen on Saturday.
He adds: "Every player wants to play here, wants to play in front of this big crowd. You live for those games when you're a football player."
Vrancken says Benfica going unbeaten in the Portuguese top flight last season shows the size of Hearts' task, adding: "If we can get a good result it would be a huge achievement. But we have to stay humble, fight together in every moment of the game and stay disciplined."
Hearts lost to Aberdeen and Sturm Graz "in a few moments" and the Belgian has urged his side to learn from those mistakes or Benfica will punish them.
Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter
To say it has been a difficult few months for Hearts would be the understatement of the year.
Few will give the Tynecastle club much chance of returning from Lisbon with a positive result from the Europa League qualifying trip to face Benfica and it is easy to understand why.
Eight goals conceded in three competitive matches, just one scored at the other end, and even at this early stage of the campaign an injury list that continues to grow. It has been a far from ideal start for Wouter Vrancken.
The task does not get any easier on Thursday.
Benfica may have lost defender Antonio Silva to Bournemouth, but the Portuguese giants remain packed with quality under vastly-experienced boss Marco Silva.
Goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin is only 25 but has 29 caps for Ukraine. Greece striker Vangelis Pavlidis scored 22 goals for Benfica last season and alongside him are Heorhiy Sudakov and Jakub Kamimski, who arrived for a combined fee of around £34m, while experienced forward Rafa Silva has returned to the club from Besiktas.
For several Hearts players, walking out in front of almost 68,000 supporters at the Estadio da Luz will represent a dramatic step up from anything they experienced last season.
Defender MJ Kamson-Kamara spent last term on loan at Glentoran, where average attendances were around 2,750. Striker Amadou Ba-Sy was playing in France's third tier, while Laurent Mendy featured in England's National League.
It underlines the scale of the challenge facing Hearts.
Realistically, the priority has to be keeping the tie alive before next week's second leg at a sold-out Tynecastle.
Image source, Getty ImagesVangelis Pavlidis scored 30 goals in all competitions last season
After a 6-0 aggregate loss against Sturm Graz in Champions League qualifying and a late 2-1 reverse against Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership, things don't exactly get easier for Wouter Vrancken's Hearts.
They go to Benfica on Thursday for the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie, with the odds stacked against them as they try to avoid another morale-sapping result.
The Portuguese giants are ranked 18th in Uefa's club coefficient rankings, 120 places ahead of Hearts.
They were unbeaten in the Primeira Liga last season, but finished third after 11 draws left them behind both Porto and Sporting.
They also reached the knockout phase of the Champions League under Jose Mourinho after victories against Ajax, Napoli and Real Madrid, before Real got their revenge in the play-off round with a 3-1 aggregate victory.
Mourinho has since returned to Los Blancos and has been replaced in the Benfica dugout by former Everton and Fulham boss Marco Silva.
Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis is a prolific goal scorer, netting 30 times in all competitions last season, while Norway's Andreas Schjelderup and Rafa Silva are dangerous wingers.
Pavlidis also comes into this game in good form having scored four as Benfica beat St Gallen 5-0 in the second leg of their previous Europa League qualifying tie to seal a 6-2 aggregate win.
A daunting task then as Vrancken and his players try to avoid a fourth defeat on the spin.
Image source, SNSHearts' appeal against centre-half Stuart Findlay's red card against Aberdeen on Sunday has been rejected by the Scottish FA.
The 30-year-old will miss Sunday's Scottish Premiership match against Dundee United through suspension.
Findlay was shown a straight red in stoppage time following a foul on Toyosi Olusanya inside the penalty box, with Kevin Nisbet scoring the resulting spot kick to secure a 2-1 for the hosts.
Hearts had argued it was a genuine attempt to play the ball and cited "a near identical incident" at the weekend when Motherwell's Oscar Preistman was shown a yellow card against Hibernian.
The Tynecastle club expressed disappointment at the appeal being rejected but said they would make no further comment.
Greg Playfair
Fan writer
Wouter Vrancken must be wondering when a nightmare stops being a nightmare and becomes reality following a tough first 40 days in charge of Hearts.
I absolutely back Vrancken to get things right but he needs patience and support - two things that can disappear quickly in Scottish football, especially for managers who come from abroad and have to work that bit harder to get fans onside.
The late collapse at Pittodrie was largely down to the players' fatigue. Whether that was physical, mental, or both, it was sore to take, especially in the opening game of the season.
I did fear we came into the season underprepared and Vrancken has hinted he wasn't happy with the club's pre-season plans that were arranged prior to his arrival. Unfortunately that is coming back to haunt us.
We have lost a lot of leadership amid the summer upheaval and that was evident in the last 15 minutes at Pittodrie. Had this been last season, we'd have been able to turn to guys like Beni Baningime or Frankie Kent to come off the bench, shore things up and help us grind out the result.
But there seems to be a mental fragility in this team - as demonstrated in nine minutes in Graz when we conceded three goals - and Vrancken needs to address it in the transfer window.
Our new head coach isn't faultless, however, as I do find it worrying we went to Aberdeen with a bench comprising one centre-half, one central midfielder, three wingers, two number 10s and two strikers.
It's not that I want Vrancken to park the bus, but we saw with Daniel Stendel that you cannot simply look to attack for 90 minutes in the Scottish Premiership and not have a plan to stifle the opposition.
We need to prioritise getting defenders in over signing a striker to take up the vacant number nine jersey, as we simply need to stop conceding goals.
I'd love it if we could get defensive stability for Thursday's tie in Lisbon against European giants Benfica. Ordinarily, it's a fixture that would get the fans excited, but it's now a case of hoping we keep the likely defeat respectable and avoid injuries before a must-win clash against Dundee United on Sunday.
If we can get a good performance and a kind result in Portugal, that should breathe some confidence back into Gorgie, where the wind has been knocked out of our sails ever since 16 May at Celtic Park.
We asked for your views after Hearts learned their next potential European opponents.
The Tynecastle side will face Aarhus of Denmark or Sabah of Azerbaijan should they progress to the Europa League play-off round by defeating Benfica.
Defeat to Benfica would send Hearts into a Conference League play-off against Paide Linnameeskond of Estonia or Rapid Vienna.
Here are some of your comments:
Campbell: Most likely Rapid Vienna for a Conference League spot. I think that's a winnable tie and, hopefully, by that point we've got a few more in the door and the system is starting to click. Keep the faith.
James: The Conference draw is the best we could have hoped for. Home leg first and hopefully Wouter Vrancken will have bedded in a few of the new boys a bit better and we'll have a better chance this time.
Aidan: If we play our best we will play Europa League football. If not we will get almost definitely Conference League.
David: Being realistic there is no way we will get past Benfica so it's then down to the Conference. Either tie will not be easy. There are too many factors in play at this early stage of the season as we try to integrate new players into a new system and with a manager who has yet to decide on his best starting 11. A lot of patience will be required and us fans are not noted for that!
Jim: Sadly, at best, it looks the Conference League for us this season and judging by defensive performances in the past week we could be embarrassed defensively at Benefica. So early in the season, injuries and suspensions kicking in already we need urgent quality cover or our season will be over before it gets going.
Jimmy: Incredible draw to get Rapid (or the Estonian side). Some good news after seeing the initial list of possible opponents
Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Allianz Stadion in Vienna is a likely destination for Hearts in a few weeks
Hearts have found out their potential opponents in both the Europa League and Conference League play-offs, depending on the result of their tie with Benfica.
Wouter Vrancken's men face the Portuguese giants in a Europa League third qualifying round double header over the next two weeks.
If the Jambos were to pull off a huge upset and beat Benfica over two legs, they would face either a trip to Denmark to battle AGF Aarhus, or Azerbaijan to play FC Sabah.
Those two face off in Champions League third round qualifying, with the loser dropping down to face either Hearts or Benfica.
You may not have heard of Sabah, but they are in fact the Azerbaijani league champions, finishing nine points above the more well-known Qarabag. They were only founded in 2017, and play in Masazir on the northern outskirts of Baku.
So far, they've beaten TNS of Wales and KuPS of Finland to get to this stage.
As for AGF Aarhus, they were tipped for relegation from the Danish Superliga last season - and went on to win the title for the first time in 40 years.
Incredibly, they lost the first leg of their Champions League qualifier 4-1 to Lech Poznan, before winning the second leg by the same margin and triumphing on penalties.
Former Hearts players to appear for them include Danish striker Mike Tullberg - who went on to be the caretaker manager of Borussia Dortmund - and left-back Adam Eckersley, who scored 16 goals there in a four-year spell.
But, in all likelihood, it will be one of Austrians Rapid Vienna or Estonians Paide Linnameeskond in the Conference League play-off.
Hearts are no strangers to Austria, having travelled there just weeks ago in Vrancken's first game in charge to play Sturm Graz - a game that is remembered for the wrong reasons as they collapsed to a 4-0 win.
Rapid finished fifth, while Sturm finished second, in the Austrian Bundesliga last season. Scottish fans generally will remember them from last season, when they defeated Dundee United on penalties in the Conference League third qualifying round.
As for Paide, they finished fourth in the 2025 Meistriliiga, 12 points behind league winners Flora. They hail from Paide, an hour south from Tallinn by car.
Their odds of beating Rapid are, according to bookmakers, even smaller than Hearts beating Benfica. Make of that what you will.
Hearts have been drawn against either AGF Aarhus of Denmark or Sabah of Azerbaijan should they progress to the Europa League play-off round by defeating Benfica.
The Edinburgh side, who dropped down to the second-tier tournament after losing to Sturm Graz in Champions League qualifying, will face Paide Linnameeskond of Estonia or Rapid Vienna of Austria in the Conference League play-off round should they lose to the Portuguese.
Wouter Vrancken's rebuilt team will be at home on 20 August for the first leg of whichever competition they are playing, with the return the following Thursday.
How do you rate Hearts' chances of reaching either league stage?
Image source, SNSHearts have appealed against Stuart Findlay's red card in Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Aberdeen.
The centre-half was shown a straight red in stoppage time following a foul on Toyosi Olusanya inside the penalty box, with Kevin Nisbet scoring the resulting spot kick to secure the Dons' victory.
"Given our player's genuine attempt to play the ball, we do not feel that a red card was merited and, as such, will be making that case to the Scottish FA," Hearts say.
"We note with interest a near identical incident during Motherwell's win over Hibs yesterday, which resulted in a yellow card for Oscar Preistman, not a red.
"Being forced to highlight the consistency, or lack thereof, in refereeing decisions after only one match of the new Scottish Premiership season is not a situation we wish to find ourselves in.
"However, given the lengthy, worldwide debate around this topic last season, the club feels it is only right to inform our supporters that not only do we share their grievances, we are also taking appropriate action to rectify the matter.
"We trust that, on this occasion, justice will be served."
Highlights: Aberdeen 2-1 Hearts
Watch the best of the action from a dramatic Scottish Premiership season opener at Pittodrie as Aberdeen hit back to beat Hearts. (Available to UK users only)
Image source, SNSHearts head coach Wouter Vrancken admitted he will likely have to bring in further defensive reinforcements after several key players were struck down by injury in the opening games of the season.
Vice-captain Stephen Kingsley, new centre-back Malachi Fagan-Walcott and right-back Christian Borchgrevink all picked up knocks in the Champions League qualifying loss to Sturm Graz, which ended in a 6-0 aggregate defeat.
Captain Craig Halkett is already missing after rupturing his Achilles in the third-last match of last term, while fellow centre-half Stuart Findlay is out for next week's league game against Aberdeen after his red card in the opener against Aberdeen.
Vrancken has already utilised four centre-back pairings, with midfielder McEntee filling in next to Findlay in the 2-1 loss at Pittodrie.
Jordi Altena and Harry Milne are the only fit full-backs, while Jamie McCart and MJ Kamson-Kamara, who is yet to play a competitive game for Hearts, are the fit centre-back options. New signing Laurent Mendy could also fill in further back.
"We have to see," Vrancken said. "We have to talk about it. We have to look during the next days."
Before the ominous Europa League qualifier first leg away to Benfica on Thursday, Vrancken has added 20-year-old Kamson-Kamara to the European squad in place of Fagan-Walcott.
The Belgian admitted facing the Portuguese giants in the Stadium of Light will be a challenge after his side capitulated spectacularly against Aberdeen, leading 1-0 in the 89th minute before losing 2-1.
"Difficult, difficult," he said of the trip to Lisbon. "It could help if we win this game. That could help a lot when you go to the next one, especially when you play a top European team.
"But you have to step over the emotion again. And this is in sport, and especially in football, especially when the games come so fast.
"You have to be able to step over emotions and to be mature in those things, but also learn from those things. Because we don't want situations like this again."
We asked for your views after Hearts conceded two late goals to lose their Premiership opener 2-1 at Aberdeen.
Here are some of your comments:
Fraser: This is going to be one long, long season…
Jim: We have to be patient, it takes a little time to get a winning team together and after the upheaval at Tynecastle this past couple of months I am not surprised. I believe we still have basis of a championship challenging team but the ease with which we lost goals in quick succession against Sturm Graz and now Aberdeen is a concern. I also think it is time Landry Kabore stepped aside and James Wilson was given his chance alongside Claudio Braga up front.
Campbell: Hearts are rebuilding after the shock of losing the title last season. So many new faces to bed in. No proper pre-season and straight into the Champions League. Can't expect too much this season I'm afraid.
Brian: I know it's early days but Wouter Vrancken is out of his depth. Some of his team selection choices are questionable and he seems to have been unable to establish a connection with the fans. The players need to get a grip at the back and Braga needs a lot more support up front. Its going to be a long season and at the minute we couldn't buy a win if we tried.
Steve: This team is all wrong. We are brittle at the back and strangers on the attack. Aberdeen were woeful and have three points. Unless we sign a strong and commanding centre-half and a proven striker I struggle to see how we make the top six.
Gordon: We will win more than we lose playing like that. Poor defending in last 10 mins cost us plus questionable substitutions. Can we all agree Jordi Altena is NOT a right-back, I can see why Derek McInnes never rated him.
