They secured their place back in April with a Scottish Cup semi-final win over Hibs, but Hearts will finally take a step closer to knowing who stands between them and place in the Europa League group stages.
Robbie Neilson ’s side are 180 minutes away from reaching the group stages of the competition for the first time in 18 years. The Jambos were the first Scottish side to do so back in 2004, when it was still called the UEFA Cup. A two-legged win over Portuguese cracks Braga saw Craig Levein’s team progress to a section including Dutch giants Feyenoord, Schlake of the Bundesliga, Basel and Ferencvaros.
A 3-0 defeat in De Kuip was followed up with a narrow 1-0 loss to Schalke at Murrayfield. A famous win in Switzerland was secured with a last minute strike by current boss Neilson, before Ferencvaros also edged their encounter at the home of Scottish Rugby. Future Tynecastle manager Csaba Laszlo was booted on the touchline by John Robertson for his troubles.
