Minsk and Tatties

It’s about time we got back to Hearts in Europe, it’s been well over a month since their disappointment at the hands of Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League playoff round sent them into the Conference League league phase (that still isn’t scanning properly…). A 1-0 defeat in both legs, so here’s a reminder of the second leg at Tynecastle.

Hearts kick off that campaign “away” to Dinamo Minsk. I put that in quotes because it’s even further away than you think. This game in is Azerbaijan, due to UEFA’s ruling that Belarus can’t host games and can’t have any fans at their “home” games either. That’s not even as far as some would like, as there’s been suggestions for some time that Belarus should be banned for supporting Russia in their ongoing action against Ukraine. However, for now, UEFA have allowed them to compete, albeit with restrictions.

I try not to get too political on these blogs, but sometimes it’s almost unavoidable just to explain where we are and why.

So the 5.45pm oor time kick off will be over in the Mehdi Huseynzade adina Sumqayit seher stadionu in Sumqayit, Azerbaijan. Since no fans are allowed, you’ll have to make do with TNT Sports 3. Hearts fans will need to wait a little bit longer to look out their passports.

There’s not a lot to say about the history here. Hearts have never faced a side from Belarus, and Dinamo Minsk have never faced a Scottish side. When Dinamo Minsk were representing the Soviet Union in the 1980s they reached the quarter final of both the European Cup and the UEFA Cup, but that’s been about it for their history. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union they’ve been regulars in Europe, but haven’t often gone beyond qualifying. They did reach the Europa League group stage in 2014/15 where they won away to Fiorentina, which is probably the highlight of their time in Europe post-Cold War. They were also in the Europa League again the following season, losing five of the six matches but they did beat Viktoria Plzen in the other game. That was the last time they went beyond qualifying.

This season though, they’ve made it through to the league phase, albeit in their third competition having started off in Champions League qualifying. There they beat Pyunik of Armenia 1-0 on aggregate (winning the away leg) in the first qualifying round but lost 2-1 on aggregate to Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria in the second qualifying round. They then beat Lincoln Red Imps 3-2 on aggregate in the Europa League third qualifying round, but lost 2-0 on aggregate to Anderlecht of Belgium in the playoff round.

Here’s the first leg…

… and here’s the second leg. They both finished 1-0 to Anderlecht.

Minsk are a pot six team, so technically Hearts easiest opponents. Although give the pairing system in the Conference League, Hearts easiest tie might actually be the home game against pot five’s Petroclub, whom they’ll face on match day six.

Minsk are second in the Belarusian Premier League, three points behind leaders Neman with three games in hand after twenty matches. On Saturday they won 2-0 at home to Isloch. They travel to Shakhtyor this coming Sunday.

Hearts are bottom of the Scottish Premiership with just two points, a point behind Kilmarnock. On Saturday they picked up only their second point with a last gasp draw at home to Ross County courtesy of Lawrence Shankland. They travel to Aberdeen this coming Sunday.

Once Hearts are finished in the earlier kick off, the channel remains the same – TNT Sports 3 – as action turns to match day two of the Europa League and Rangers hosting Olympique Lyon at Ibrox. Kick off, 8pm.

Lyon are one of Rangers’ pot two teams, and are currently in eighth place in the league phase. On match day one they won 2-0 at home to Olympiacos.

As noted on Tuesday, away goals are a tiebreaker in this new league phase and so while both Lyon and Rangers won 2-0 on match day one, Rangers are ranked as sixth with two away goals thanks to their win over Malmo in Sweden whilst Lyon don’t have any and so are eighth.

Here’s the bad news. The two previous times Lyon have been to Ibrox, they’ve won. The 2007/08 Champions League campaign ended with Rangers having a league match postponed the weekend before they were due to face Lyon in the final group stage match, but it didn’t help at all as Lyon won 3-0. Sidney Govou with the opener and two goals late on from Karim Benzema. That’s despite Rangers having won by the same scoreline over in France earlier in the campaign!

The other time came in the 2021/22 Europa League group stage, with Lyon winning 2-0. Karl Took Ekambi with the opener and a James Tavernier own goal.

Here’s the good news. The two previous times that Lyon have been to Ibrox, we’ve seen Rangers reach the final of the UEFA Cup/Europa League! In 2007/08, the defeat to Lyon meant Rangers finished third and parachuted down to the UEFA Cup, ultimately making it all the way to Manchester for the final. The 2021/22 defeat had Rangers finish second in the table, where they went on to defeat Dortmund in the playoff round as mentioned on Tuesday and then all the way to the final in Seville.

Lyon aren’t invincible in Scotland either. In the 2003/04 Champions League group stage, they came over to Celtic Park and lost 2-0 thanks to goals from Liam Miller and Chris Sutton.

Their first trip to Scotland was a 1-0 win over Celtic in the UEFA Cup second round courtesy of a Tony Vairelles goal early on, in a tie probably more infamous for the first leg in France where Henrik Larsson broke his leg.

There’s been quite a few French visitors to Ibrox over the years. The first two teams Rangers faced in Europe were French in fact. The 1956/57 European Cup first round tie against Nice was decided on a playoff game after both legs finished 2-1 wins for the home side, Max Murray and Billy Simpson with the Rangers goals, Jacques Faivre with the visitors’ goal. Nice eventually progressed from the time after winning that playoff in Paris 3-1.

The 1957/58 European Cup first round saw St Etienne beaten 3-1 at Ibrox, with Rangers winning the tie 4-3 on aggregate this time. Not bad considering St Etienne scored first through Rachid Makhloufi! Goals from Don Kitchenbrand, Alex Scott and Billy Simpson gave Rangers the first leg advantage.

Monaco were the next visitors on the 1961/62 European Cup, Rangers once more coming out on top by winning both legs 3-2. At Ibrox, two goals from James Christie and one from Alex Scott were plenty to see Rangers through to the next round, despite two goals from Andre Hess.

Rennes were Rangers first opponents on their way to winning the 1971/72 Cup Winners Cup, the 1-0 win in the second leg at Ibrox thanks to a goal from Alex MacDonald being crucial in a tie that finished 2-1 on aggregate. I can only find footage from the first leg though, so I’ll save that for another day.

St Etienne were the first French team to win at Ibrox in the 1975/76 European Cup second round, beating Rangers 2-1. Worth noting that St Etienne went all the way to the final at Hampden that season, losing out to Bayern Munich who won the cup for a third season in a row.

The 1992/93 Champions League group stage, the first with the new branding and the second in the tournament’s history, famously paired Marseille with Rangers. Both games between the two ended in draws, the game at Ibrox finishing 2-2. Alen Boksic and Rudi Voller had Marseille two up until a late charge from Rangers saw Gary McSwegan and Mark Hateley earn a draw.

Marseille ultimately went one better than St Etienne and actually won the cup after pipping Rangers to win the group. Although there was that small matter of bribing their league opponents a few days before that final to take it easy, so that’s somewhat tarnished these days.

Auxerre were next to visit Ibrox, winning 2-1 in the 1996/97 Champions League group stage. Thomas Deniaud with both goals for the visitors, Paul Gascoigne with the consolation.

The following season in the first round of the UEFA Cup, Strasbourg also won by the same scoreline. Rino Gattuso with the opener, but Gerard Baticle and David Zitelli turned it around for the visitors.

Monaco were back at Ibrox in the 2000/01 Champions League group stage, earning a 2-2 draw. Kenny Miller giving Rangers an early lead before Costinha levelled before half time. Michael Mols put Rangers back in front, but once more Monaco pulled it level through Marco Simone. Had Rangers hung on to the lead, they’d have finished ahead of Galatasaray in the group and went through. Instead they finished third and dropped to the UEFA Cup.

The 2001/02 UEFA Cup third round saw Paris Saint-Germain get a goalless draw, which was then matched in the second leg and ultimately Rangers won on penalties over in France. The somewhat interesting part of that story is that Celtic were also involved in their own penalty shootout at the same time that night in the same competition, losing out to Valencia at Celtic Park.

The 2004/05 UEFA Cup saw Auxerre back again, and again they left with a win, this time 2-0, both goals from Bonaventure Kalou. Can’t find footage of this one, but once again the result cost Rangers as it meant they finished fourth, a point behind Auxerre and Grazer AK, in a group where the top three progressed. They were the last visitors to Ibrox, other than the two meetings with Lyon that were mentioned earlier.

And since Rangers will be playing Nice in France later on in this tournament on match day five, we can do all this again about the away games then!

Lyon are eleventh in Ligue 1 after six games, nine points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain. They won 2-1 on Sunday away to Toulouse thanks to a 95th minute winner from Malick Fofana. They host Nantes this coming Sunday.

Rangers are third in the Scottish Premiership, five points behind Celtic and Aberdeen after six games. On Sunday they won 1-0 at home to Hibernian. They host St Johnstone this coming Sunday.

Good luck to both Hearts and Rangers tonight!