Simon Seidl scored the opening goal for Sturm Graz at TynecastleSNS

Simon Seidl scored the opening goal for Sturm Graz at Tynecastle

At a glance

  • Hearts slide out of Champions League after 6-0 aggregate defeat

  • Sturm Graz score twice in four second-half minutes

  • Hearts to play Benfica or St Gallen in Europa League third qualifying round

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

Hearts endured another painful night against Sturm Graz as the Tynecastle side's first Champions League campaign in 20 years ended in a swift exit.

Two second-half goals handed Wouter Vrancken's men a 6-0 aggregate defeat - their heaviest in a two-legged European tie - by the slick Austrians in the second-round qualifier.

Hearts now drop into the Europa League third qualifying round where they will face the winners of the tie between St Gallen and Benfica. Those sides meet in the second leg on Thursday, with St Gallen 2-1 up.

With a four-goal lead from the first leg, Seedy Jatta thought he had ended any chance of a Hearts comeback after 25 minutes in Edinburgh. The Sturm Graz forward, unmarked in the six-yard area, tapped the ball beyond Alexander Schwolow, but the goal was ruled out for a foul on Harry Milne.

Schwolow, in his final Hearts outing before he joins Mainz, produced fine first-half saves, while the hosts threatened only fleetingly.

Malachi Fagan-Walcott headed wide from a free-kick before Blair Spittal's shot on the edge of the box was blocked. Spittal also fired high over the crossbar from the same position.

Hearts looked sharper in the second half and Oisin McEntee's header had to be cleared off the line to keep the game goalless.

But Simon Seidl struck the killer blow with 25 minutes to play when he rifled an angled strike beyond Schwolow from just inside the box.

It wasn't long before the visitors added a second as they cut open Vrancken's side with some great passing before Emran Soglo's shot was saved and rebounded into the Hearts goal.

Analysis: No magic as Hearts go out with whimper

Hearts statSNS

After last week's 4-0 humbling in Austria, head coach Vrancken said it would take something "magical" for Hearts to progress.

But the boos that rang out after Sturm Graz's second goal tell you fans felt the display from Hearts was far from it.

The hosts had plenty of the ball - 64% possession - but took until the second half to register a shot on target and ended with an xG of just 0.64 compared to the Austrians' 2.39.

Any realistic hope of salvaging the tie was long gone by the time Seidl's strike made the breakthrough on the night. The visitors added insult to injury four minutes later to inflict another sobering defeat on the Edinburgh club.

In Europe, Hearts will have to beat either St Gallen or Benfica to progress to the Europa League play-off round but before then there's the small matter of the Scottish Premiership opener in Aberdeen on Saturday.

They're still searching for their first goal under their new manager, never mind a win, and if they can't find that on Saturday the question marks around Vrancken could start to appear.

What they said

Vracken says Hearts are just missing sharpness

Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken: "I hope everybody starts scoring. It doesn't matter who as long as the goals come.

"It comes together with physical preparation too, then you make the better decisions and in the final moments you're there to finish it. I cannot blame the players in intentions and how they did it at all.

"It's not about quality. When you play against Sturm Graz who are experienced in Europe and you play like that in the first half in both games then it's not about lacking quality, it's more about we have to make some steps physically."

What's next?

Hearts travel to Aberdeen on Saturday (17:30 BST) for their first game of the new Scottish Premiership season.