Sturm Graz captain Jon Stankovic expects Hearts to pose just as tough a challenge as Celtic and Rangers did last season. The former Huddersfield Town midfielder faced both Old Firm sides in last season's Europa League, delivering a 2-1 defeat to Rangers in the Merkur Arena and later falling 2-1 to Celtic in Glasgow.
Stankovic's Assessment
Stankovic admitted it has been difficult to analyse Hearts given the managerial change and player turnover at Tynecastle since May. The 30-year-old Slovenia international said: "Of course, we played two Scottish teams last year and it was quite similar performances both times. One time we went home as winners, one time as losers and both of the times it was 50-50 games and we expect the same thing against Hearts."
He added: "We analysed Hearts a bit and there are a few new names, new coach and there is possibilities that they change a little bit but nonetheless I think they are a good team and we have to be ready for that. But our focus is mainly on us, what we can do and how we can cause them trouble."
Ingolitsch's Respect and Tactical Analysis
Sturm Graz boss Fabio Ingolitsch expressed full respect for Hearts, noting their near-title challenge under Derek McInnes last season. However, he predicted a shift in style under new manager Wouter Vrancken, moving away from "long ball" tactics to more controlled, positional play.
The 34-year-old coach, preparing for his first Champions League qualifier since taking over in January, said: "For sure. Scottish football is famous in Austria, especially for me. I really like the British style of football and I am very used to it. I recognised the development of this club. It was a little bit surprising for the whole of Europe that they were in front of Rangers and nearly beating Celtic."
Ingolitsch added: "We have the biggest respect for this team and we know about their strengths but we also know about our strengths. That's why we think we can compete tomorrow."
Preparation and Strategy
Ingolitsch acknowledged the challenge of analysing Hearts' new system: "The hardest part was to get information and video material to analyse the new manager's style of play and get a picture of the new players. We have an overview of how the new coach would like to play. I think they are now going to more positional play and they are more focused on these kind of things. It's less long balls and set-pieces than last year. It's more strategic and controlled."
He outlined his tactical approach: "We think we know what they will do. It's going to be tough for us to have good pressing against this style of play. But it's a good chance for us, especially at home, to win many balls and go for counter-attacks. They are technically very strong. They have some individualists, especially on the offence with guys who scored a lot of points last year."
Stankovic emphasised the club's European experience: "We played the last four years in the group phases of Champions League and the Europa League and this is big for this club. It's coming really fast with the first qualification game and we had a lot of pre-season games to get ready for this game."
Ingolitsch concluded: "We want to be very active, press them high, and hopefully get them stressed so that they make mistakes. We don't need to win but we want to. That's our biggest goal for tomorrow. We want to play at home with a good performance and we want to win."
