Viktoria Plzen favourites to face Hearts as Czechs come from behind to claim Europa League advantage
dailyrecord.co.ukViktoria Plzen look like Hearts' most likely Euro opponents after they came from behind to win at the Kosicka Futbalova Arena.The Czech side, who mixed it in a Champions League group of death with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Inter less than two seasons ago, were favourites going in against Ukrainian outfit FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih ahead of their Europa League third qualifying round first leg.
But they fell behind after just 20 minutes to Prince Kwabena Adu's opener.Plzen staged a turnaround after the break however, with Jiri Maxim Panos levelling just three minutes after the break before Daniel Vasulin fired them ahead on 69 minutes.
The pair will do it again in the Czech Republic next week. Should Plzen finish the job, then they'll welcome Steven Naismith and his side to the Doosan Arena on Thursday August 22 before the return trip to Tynecastle a week later.
Should Kryvbas manage to flip the tie on it's head, then the Jambos will play the first leg in Slovakia due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.Naismith said of the draw: There’s an excitement because we’ve worked so hard to get here and now we know the draw, we’re happy with it and we’ll see if we can get through it.“We’ll research their style, what they like to do and their individual players.
Read more on dailyrecord.co.uk