Vrancken's side come of age as Hearts bid goodnight Vienna

ByAndy Campbell

BBC Scotland

If 16 May was the day the dream ended, 26 August may well turn out to be when the next one started for Hearts.

A mere three months on from a final-day defeat that denied Hearts a first Scottish top-flight title in 66 years, they have not only secured a tangible reward for finishing as runners-up, they did so with immense courage and togetherness.

Thursday's victory over Rapid Vienna on penalties secured a place in Friday's league phase draw for the Conference League and two games each in October, November and December.

A lot has changed in that three months - a new head coach in Belgian Wouter Vrancken, player departures and plenty arrivals - and a sticky start to the season threatened to prolong a sense of malaise after that 3-1 defeat by champions Celtic.

European and domestic losses got the 2026-27 campaign off to a whimper but Vrancken stayed calm and believes his team are now reaping deserved benefits.

"They have to learn that they're a good team, that they're good players, that they can show it," he told BBC Scotland.

"In the last away games in Europe, you see that they're a little bit scared to do things, to take risks or to give spaces away. Then we don't play our game.

"The development of the team, the progress of the team is amazing. The team spirit, I saw it from the first session already.

"They want to learn it. They wanted to have feedback. They want to go into it and the kind of football we played. This is the result. They get rewarded and I'm so happy for them."

While the margin of Hearts' 6-0 aggregate loss to Sturm Graz in the Champions League second qualifying round may have been unexpected, the result was not much of a surprise.

Even less surprising was losing to Benfica, typically a Champions League team, in the Europa League qualifiers, though again the margin was heavy at 7-1 on aggregate.

Facing Rapid Vienna in the Conference League play-off represented another tough tie, though not considered as tough as either Sturm Graz or Benfica.

Roughly this time last year, Dundee United took Rapid to penalties in their Conference League qualifying tie but lost in the shootout and the improvement in Hearts' domestic form after a losing start at Aberdeen raised hopes that European league phase football was achievable.

Hearts more than gave as good as they got in the first leg, but the absence of a lead to take over to Austria made Rapid slight favourites at 2-2, more so after Ercan Kara gave them a 1-0 lead on the night at the Allianz Stadion.

A Tomas Magnusson red card for Hearts preceded the Pierre Landry Kabore equaliser that forced extra time. Calvin Miller's volley very nearly secured them the win only for Nenad Cvetkovic to level for Rapid on 119 minutes.

A first save in the shootout from Beau Reus to deny Moulaye Haidara put Hearts within touching distance again but Oisin McEntee's spot-kick getting blocked prolonged the tension.

Up stepped Marco Tilio, a former Celtic winger perhaps with a point to prove after a frustrating spell in Glasgow. But it was Reus who had the last word with another terrific stop to secure a 4-3 win on penalties.

Vrancken's post-match comments revealed how much he believes his side have come in a short space of time.

"When you see the game, we played a really bad first half, a little bit similar as we did in Benfica," he explained.

"We made agreements, we had a game plan and we didn't follow up, we didn't show the guts to follow up.

"When you play against a side like Rapid Vienna, when you don't show it, they can play through you. We were already pretty angry at half-time and we came out, we did much better.

"We took the game in our hands, we were dominant at that moment. This is already a mental strength, coming back on 1-0 down and coming back like this.

"Again, in the extra time, you try to take the game with you to Hearts and to Edinburgh, then you get a mental kick again in the last minute of the extra time.

"Again, I'm so proud of these guys that they stay in the game, focused and concentrated to win the penalties.

"We can make more steps in the coming weeks and hope that we can take the steps as soon as possible."

Progress in Europe brings obvious financial rewards and there may be sales as well as purchases at Hearts in the closing days of the transfer window.

Hearts have already brought in 12 new players this summer while even more than that have moved on.

Now with at least six more European fixtures to play this season, former Hearts player Ryan Stevenson believes the club will have to recruit.

"I think they'll definitely need to bring in another two or three anyway when you look at the League Cup, the six games in Europe, the league, which is so important," he told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound.

Another former Tynecastle favourite, Allan Preston, believes Hearts will be prepared for such a task.

"They've got people ready to come if they're needed," he said. "They are ready. They don't wait until things happen. They already do things.

"If they need to, they'll be pushing the button before the transfer window closes. They will get better, they'll produce better."

One position Hearts may have to look at as a priority is midfield after Tom Renaud's first-half injury.

"That's the biggest disappointment of the evening," lamented Vrancken.

"It's not looking good but I hope for him that it's OK. We have to look there because he was also really good in the last game.

"We're talking every day about those things and we'll see in the next weeks."