Heart of Midlothian is gearing up to face Sturm Graz in the second round of Champions League qualifying. This marks the first time in 20 years that the Edinburgh club has reached this stage of Europe’s top club competition, having finished as runners-up in the Scottish Premiership after a final-day defeat to reigning champions Celtic.

Sturm Graz, who also secured a second-place finish in their domestic league behind LASK, will host the first leg of the tie on 21/22 July, with the return match scheduled for the following midweek.

By the time of the matches, Hearts may find themselves under new management, as head coach Derek McInnes is reportedly on the verge of moving to Rangers. The club is expected to announce a replacement shortly.

In this qualifying round, Hearts were unseeded alongside Gornik Zabrze, who will compete against Fenerbahce of Turkey. Should Hearts triumph over Sturm Graz, they will remain unseeded and could potentially face strong opponents like Lyon, Bodo/Glimt, or Olympiacos in the next round.

If Hearts were to lose against the Austrians, they would drop into the Europa League third qualifying round, where they would also be unseeded, in a section that includes Rangers, who will be seeded for their European opener.

Last season, Sturm Graz faced a tough playoff round, losing 6-2 on aggregate to Bodo/Glimt. They managed to beat Rangers at home, but fell to Celtic, finishing 26th out of 36 teams in the Europa League.

Head coach Fabio Ingolitsch, who took over during the winter break, previously managed Rheindorf Altach. Despite finishing the regular season at the top of their league by a point, Sturm Graz ended two points behind LASK after the league split.

In their last Champions League qualifying campaign, Hearts defeated Siroki Brijeg from Bosnia-Herzegovina before bowing out to AEK Athens and dropping into the Uefa Cup.