Hearts land £35m ex-Man Utd starlet in potential Champions League blockbuster - and Europa League giant awaits
Big-spending Turks could be Jambos’ next opponent in Europe
Hearts will face either Fenerbahce or Gornik Zabrze in the third round of Champions League qualifying should they defeat Sturm Graz over two legs.
The Tynecastle outfit are playing in the top tier of European football for the first time in 20 years after finishing second in last season’s Premiership and are in Austria preparing for their first leg of the second qualifying round against Sturm Graz on Tuesday night.
Hearts now know who lies in wait in the next round of the competition after the third qualifying draw was held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, on Monday morning.
Should they overcome Sturm Graz, then it will be Turkish side Fenerbahce - a seasoned Champions League side - or Polish outfit Gornik Zabrze, who are playing in the tournament for the first time since it was known as the European Cup.
The duo face each other in the first leg on Tuesday at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Istanbul, with Fenerbahce favoured to progress across the two legs.
Managed by İsmail Kartal, Fenerbahce finished second in the Turkish Super Lig behind Galatasaray last season and have a number of well-known players in their squad, including defender Nathan Ake, midfielders Fred, Marco Asensio and Matteo Guendouzi plus striker Vedat Muriqi.
They also signed former Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood last week for a fee in the region of £35 million from French side Marseille. Greenwood was the joint top-scorer in Ligue 1 last season with 16 strikes and netted 26 times across all competitions.
Gornik would be favourable opponent
Greenwood came through the youth academy at Manchester United, with Old Trafford club having reportedly agreed a 40 per cent sell-on clause for him when they sold him to Marseille. His time at Old Trafford was clouded by charges of alleged rape and assault, which were dropped in 2023.
Fenerbahce most recently faced Scottish opposition two seasons ago under Jose Mourinho when they lost a Europa League last-16 tie to Rangers on penalties at Ibrox.
Gornik are managed by Michal Gašparík and hail from the southern Polish city of Zabrze. They finished second in last season’s Ekstraklasa behind Lech Poznan and their Arena Zabrze holds 28,000 people.
Their squad is far less flamboyant than Fenerbahce’s, with players from France, Slovakia, Germany, Nigeria, USA and Dominican Republic.
Gornik have faced Scottish opposition twice - both times against Rangers in seasons 1969/70 and 1987/88.
Should Hearts fail to overcome Sturm Graz, then they will drop into the third qualifying round of the Europa League and would take on either Portuguese giants Benfica or Swiss side St Gallen, who play each other in the second qualifying round.
Benfica would be a glamorous yet difficult tie for Hearts given their Champions League pedigree. They are now managed by former Fulham boss Marco Silva after Mourinho’s departure to Real Madrid earlier this summer and play at Estádio da Luz, which holds nearly 70,000.
Benfica, who recently played Rangers, finished third in the Primeira Liga last season behind Porto and Sporting CP, although they did reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.
St Gallen would likely be a more navigable tie, although the Swiss Super League runners-up, who play at the 20,000-capacity Kybunpark, were impressive domestically last season under Enrico Maaßen. They have never faced Scottish opposition.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.