Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken insists his team must stick together or risk being killed by a lethal Benfica side in the Europa League. The Tynecastle boss remains adamant his side will keep a positive approach as they aim for a shock result in Lisbon.
Benfica's danger
Benfica thrashed St Gallen 5-0 at home last week to reach this tie, and Vrancken is fully aware of the mass dangers lurking at the Estadio Da Luz. He stressed the importance of his team being a cohesive unit because the Portuguese side will show no mercy.
Vrancken said: "The biggest belief is that we're making steps and we have to make a few more. Against a side like Benfica, it's also a good way to show how to stick together in every part of the game because, when you lose this, then they will, for sure, kill you in these little moments."
He added: "A lot of big strengths, I think, especially when you see that last year they didn't lose one game in the league, when you also see them coming back after the defeat in the St Gallen game, it was an easy win here. So that's a really, really strong side in different kinds of ways. They find the spaces easily when you open up. They have good infiltrations from the second line. They have good connections with each other. They're clinical in both boxes. There are a lot of good things to say about this team."
Hearts' need for improvement
Vrancken's team lost six goals to Sturm Graz over two legs in their Champions League qualifier and also squandered a 1-0 lead at Aberdeen in their Premiership opener last weekend. The manager understands that errors must be eliminated from his team's game.
Despite the need to tighten up, Vrancken insists it can't just be a case of sitting deep and trying to shut up shop. He explained: "You know, Benfica are a dominant team, really good in possession, quality on the ball, everything. Skilful, every player on the pitch. But the principle is also that it's not because the other team is maybe a better team on paper that you cannot be a positive team in the way you approach the game. It's not only positive when you have the ball all the time and you're constantly attacking. I think you can also be positive in how you defend, how you stick together, how you put your block together, for example. But we're trying not to be in our own six-yard box, for example. We want to show that we can work together and also, in these moments, show that we are a good team."
Key threats
Benfica's five-goal blitz against St Gallen highlighted the danger from striker Vangelis Pavlidis, who scored four of those goals. However, Vrancken says stopping the Greek attacker isn't the only focus.
He said: "You have to consider every danger that they can have. You cannot focus on one thing because then they will play with the other. They have quality all over the pitch. It's a good challenge for us to show that we can work together in difficult moments and also not only defend, but also try to do something with the ball. Because when you're just going to kick balls away, then they come back faster than the ball is going forward. We have to give ourselves some air by doing good things on the ball and showing some guts on the ball. We will see."
Team news
Vrancken is still missing key stars but offered a squad update for the tie: "Everybody who's here is fit. Injury-wise, I think the guys who were not in the European squad are the guys who are injured. The guys who are with the team are all fit to play."
