Viktoria Plzen stand in the way of Heart of Midlothian, the league phase of the Europa League and possible matches with Manchester United, Roma and Athletic Bilbao amongst many others.

We know the Czechs are a constant presence in Europe. They've participated in European competition for the last 15 years. But what can Hearts expect from them? What are their strengths? Where can they be exploited?

Hearts Standard tasked Tom Irving with providing a scout report on the Czech side:

Viktoria Plzen

Opponent: Kryvbas KR

Competition: Europa League third-round qualifier

Formation: 3-5-2/5-3-2

Team style: Defensively solid, Good chance creation, high pressing, patient build-up

Team summary and formation

Viktoria Plzen are a strong defensive side, who are intelligent and work hard off the ball, making it hard to break them down. They are strict in their shape and understand their defensive roles well.

In attack, they work the ball into the box from wide positions, attempting to create lots of chances for their attacking players.

They play in a 3-5-2 shape when in possession, and a 5-3-2 shape out of possession, with the wing-backs dropping back into full-back positions.

Attacking shape

Plzen sit in a 3-5-2 shape in possession. When building from the back Sampson Dweh and Vaclav Jemelka, the right and left central defenders, drop deep and wide to get onto the ball. Robin Hranac, the central of the three defenders, stays central, often pushing further up into more of a defensive midfield position to create space for his two defensive partners. If the three central defenders move into a more traditional tighter back three, the central midfielders will drop deep into the full-back positions to try and get onto the ball and progress it further. Usually, this is done by Tom Sloncik and Lukas Kalvach, with the third central midfielder Lukas Cerv staying more central. This allows the wing-backs to get further up the park and act more like wingers. On multiple occasions, Jamelka also got high up the pitch, overlapping Milan Havel at left wing-back and helping in the attack.

In the opposition half they have one main aim: get the ball into the box for the forwards to attack. Usually, they do this by working the ball out wide and finding an early ball into the box. They vary their crosses, going for cut-backs, floated and whipped crosses, and balls played on the ground to feet in the box. The main target of most of these balls is the imposing figure of Daniel Vasulin. He’s a huge threat in the box, is quick and aggressive, uses his body well, and has fantastic anticipation for where the ball is going to be. The goal in this game came from exactly this scenario. The ball was worked out wide, played to the edge of the box before being quickly crossed into the back post area for Vasulin to attack. If Hearts want to stop Plzen from scoring, they need to make sure Vasulin is marked out of the game and has little to no joy in the box.

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Defensive shape

Viktoria Plzen have a very clear way of playing when out of possession. They loosely sit in a 3-5-2, but that changes depending on the situation which is dictated by the opposition.

When the opposition are in their defensive third, Plzen will sit high up the park. They won’t press fast and hard, but they will mark players in the opposition half. Quite often this will lead to what looks like a front four out of possession. The aim of this strategy is to make the opposition go long from deep, forcing a striker into a duel with one of the three big, physical and athletic central defenders. More often than not, the defenders win that duel and they can start to build an attack again.

When the attack progresses further up the park Plzen move to a deeper 5-3-2 shape. They stay compact and keep a good shape, communicating well and being persistent and tenacious in duels.

Plzen looked shaky in two scenarios throughout the game. The wing-backs sit high up, leaving a big gap in behind. Kryvbas had a quick tenacious striker who liked to chase onto through balls and was regularly found in space in the area behind the wing-back. Hearts should exploit this space by finding a player in this area who can in turn quickly work the ball into the box to create chances for the attackers or getting into this area to create a 1v1 or 2v1 situation.

The second area that Kryvbas exploited was the large gap in the middle of the park that was created when the ball was in their defensive third. Plzen sit high up, and there was often a gap from the front four, all the way to their own half. If Hearts can be intelligent and quick thinking, they can keep that space clear and quickly rotate midfielders into that area to receive the ball.

Another option would be to have at most one or two players in that area, still keeping it quite empty. Hearts could then play progressive passes to Lawrence Shankland's feet, who can in turn link up with the players coming to support from the central midfield area.

How Hearts win

  • Use the Plzen high line against them

  • Exploit the space in behind the wing-backs

  • Isolate and nullify Vasulin, allowing him no touches in the box

  • Stop the crosses