Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken admitted his team lacked 'guts' and were undone by 'stupid penalties' as they suffered a club record-equalling 6-1 defeat to Benfica in Lisbon. The Tynecastle side were overwhelmed in the Europa Conference League play-off round first leg, with Vrancken left to rue a first-half display that saw his players 'just kicking balls forward'.
First-half struggles
Speaking after the match, Vrancken said: 'Especially at the end, yeah. When you play Benfica and you just kick balls forward, they are going to come back just as quickly as you kick them.' He noted that an early goal conceded led to nervousness and a lack of composure, with the team failing to show 'more guts' in key moments.
'A few moments in the first half, you find spaces and you give yourself a little bit of air. But it was disappointing to see that we didn't show more guts in these moments,' he added.
Second-half improvement
Vrancken praised his side's second-half response, saying: 'The second half was really good. We tried to play football, to find spaces and to stick to the game plan, especially in and out of possession.' Hearts scored a 'great goal' to make it 4-1, but then pushed for a second and were caught out.
'After making it 4-1, the team felt we could go for 4-2 and maybe do more and we took a bit more risk on the pitch. That opened the game up, and as we said before, you have to manage these moments. They have exceptional quality and then they kill you,' he said.
Learning curve
The Belgian coach acknowledged the gulf in class, noting that some of his players were in lower leagues last season. 'It is not easy for those guys, and we knew it would not be easy,' he said. He also defended his record of four straight defeats, pointing out that Benfica lost only to Real Madrid in a long period and did not lose a single league game last year.
Braga future
On Claudio Braga, who endured a difficult return to Lisbon, Vrancken said: 'As a coach, I always want to keep the best players for the team. I definitely want to keep him. But in a transfer window, you never know. The main thing is that the club has to be ready if something happens. Let us hope that he can stay.'
