Craig Levein
Former Hearts manager on BBC Sportsound

Zurich midfielder Dzemaili overhits a cross from the right and it ends up drifting about a yard wide of the far post.

Closest anyone has come to scoring so far.

Perfect conditions for slide tackles here.

Been a couple of belters already. Cagey opening in terms of attacking play, though.

Ouch!published at 6 mins

6 mins

FC Zurich 0-0 Hearts

Oh dear. Craig Halkett's evening is over after six minutes.

Looks like a muscle strain for the centre-back. On comes Toby Sibbick.

First shot of the game and it's... eh, aye... one to forget as Zurich defender Omeragic skies over from range.

Bit stop-start, this.

Daft fouls breaking up play early on.

It's absolutely pelting it down in St Gallen by the way.

Proper Scottish summer stuff.

Healthy Hearts support behind Craig Gordon's goal.

The Zurich fans are making plenty of noise behind their keeper as well.

A lot of empty seats elsewhere as the teams scope each other out.

Here we go.

Polish referee Bartosz Frankowski gets us under way in St Gallen...

The players are out. Handshakes and that ongoing.

• Zurich won the Swiss title for the 13th time last season and dropped down to the Europa League after losing to Qarabag in the Champions League qualifiers, while Hearts qualified by finishing third in the Scottish Premiership.
• Hearts have twice before faced Swiss opposition - losing to Lausanne-Sport in the 1963-64 Fairs Cup and beating Basel in their only appearance in a European group stage, the 2004-05 Uefa Cup.
• Zurich have faced Scottish opposition five times, losing to Celtic, Dundee and Kilmarnock, before beating Rangers and Celtic.
• This is the first time Zurich have faced Scottish opposition since beating Celtic 5-3 on aggregate in the Uefa Cup second round in 1998-99.
• This is Hearts' first appearance in European competition since losing to Maltese side Birkirkara in Europa League qualifying in 2016.
• Zurich have reached the Europa League group stage four times, and the Champions League and Uefa Cup groups once each, reaching the last 32 in their last appearance in 2018-19.
• The furthest Hearts have progressed in European competition is the Uefa Cup quarter-finals in 1988-99, when they lost to Bayern Munich.
• Zurich twice reached the European Cup semi-finals - losing to Real Madrid in 1963-64 and Liverpool in 1976-77.

Zurich general manager Jose Goncalves is looking forward to a meeting with his "second club" Hearts.

The 36-year-old former defender was at Tynecastle from 2006-10 and played alongside current manager Robbie Neilson as well as captain Craig Gordon.

“I have great memories," he told BBC Scotland. “When I left Hearts I had tears. I wasn’t ready for that and I never knew I would get that reception.

"They had a lot of respect for me. It made me feel unbelievable. They are my second club – it’s part of me. They improved me as a player and man."

Image source, SNS

Zurich head coach Franco Foda says his side will need to show a "high level of intensity" this evening.

"[Hearts] are a versatile team, who often change system in the game," the Zurich boss said. "We need aggression off the ball.

"They often play with long balls, but they also have individual quality, for example with attacking player Liam Boyce or the wingers."

Zurich won their domestic title by 16 points from Basel in their single season under Andre Breitenreiter.

But the German opted to return to the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim and was replaced by compatriot Franco Foda, who had resigned as Austria boss in March after their failure to qualify for the World Cup finals.

Striker Assan Ceesay, who provided 22 goals and 11 assists last season, also decided to reject a new deal in preference for a move to Lecce in Serie A.

Striker Wilfried Gnonto, who starts on the bench, recently became Italy's youngest-ever scorer at the age of 18 and, like 20-year-old Swiss defender Becir Omeragic, who starts in defence, has already accumulated four international caps.

Hearts' most recent European tie was one to forget.

The Tynecastle club were dumped out in an embarrassing defeat to Maltese side Birkirkara under current boss Robbie Neilson.

Certainly a step up in opposition tonight so Neilson can't afford to see a repeat of that performance.

Image source, SNS

Just a wee reminder: If Hearts fail to get past Zurich, they will still be guaranteed European group stage football in the Conference League.

Europa League groups wouldn't be bad though, eh?

After winning last season's Swiss top flight, Zurich have endured a nightmare winless start to their title defence.

After five games, they sit bottom of the table with two points. They also failed in their quest to qualify for the Champions League, losing narrowly over two legs to Qarabag.

However, the current Swiss champions did brush aside Linfield with ease to set up their play-off encounter with Hearts.

Hearts boss Robbie Neilson tells BBC Sportsound tonight's game will be a "learning curve" for his side.

However, the Tynecastle manager believes his squad is "strong enough to progress".

On Zurich's domestic form, Neilson adds: "They changed the manger and a number of players left. Domestically they've not done too well - but we know it's still going to be an extremely hard game."

The Hearts boss also confirms his defence will line up in a back three.