Sturm Graz boss Fabio Ingolitsch reckons Hearts can still claw back a four goal deficit and save their Champions League dream at Tynecastle. The Austrian turned the air blue as he paid the Jambos a glowing tribute despite watching his side roar into a 4-0 first leg lead.
Ingolitsch warns against complacency
Hearts have a mountain to climb in Edinburgh on Tuesday but Ingolitsch has warned his players to take nothing for granted heading to Tynecastle. He said: “No, the tie is not over, it's like half-time and if we can score four goals at home Hearts also can do this. I think it's a 50-50 duel, I think we have the same quality. Hearts is more technical, we are more energetic, but in the end it will be a very tough fight, especially in their stadium with this atmosphere, where we're really looking forward, and it's also very special for us. And we hope that we can go over the line there.”
Sturm's dominant second half
Sturm blew Hearts away with three goals in nine devastating second half minutes on Tuesday night. Yet the Jambos bossed 67 per cent of possession and matched Graz’s six attempts on target. Ingolitsch admitted: “Yes, it was a very good night for us. It's a fantastic result - we didn't expect a score like this. We were really good but if we're very honest to ourselves, especially in the first half, we had many difficult parts of the game. The first minutes I really recognised for myself, ‘oh f***ing s***, the opponent is as good as I expected them in the video analysis’.
“So we had the opener with the set-piece situation, and the momentum went a little bit to our side, and I think Hearts had more parts of the first half, but we had better and clearer chances. In the second half we adapted a little bit, we were more aggressive, we pressed higher, and then we came directly to the best side of our game, to have high winning balls and a very straight transition, and play with good energy, good dynamic, and no-one could hold us back in this phase. If they had faced us, we would have won the game.
“I knew that Hearts would like to have possession, that they would like to control the game, and they went their way from the beginning, and we had troubles with these things. That's why we were not surprised at anything, because they played like we expected, and maybe it sounds a little bit... I don't know the word in English, silly or awkward? Because we won 4-0, but I think Hearts was really good.”
Kiteishvili impact
Sturm talisman Otar Kiteishvili climbed off the bench at half time and delivered the corner for Jeyland Mitchell to make it 2-0. The Georgian missed the majority of pre-season with an injury. But Ingolitsch could throw him in from the start in Edinburgh. He said: “He's our best player, he's our goal scorer, and also when he joins the pitch, it's trust and self-confidence for the rest of the guys, and everyone feels more comfortable if he's on. We need to take care of him, because he was out the whole pre-season with an injury, and maybe these 45 minutes were a little bit too high but he helped us a lot with his experience and his skills. But today it's not to speak about any single player, it's just to speak about the team, and I'm really proud of the result, but I'm more proud of the performance, and that they stood together in very difficult parts of the game.”
