Hearts v Heidenheim: Will Bundesliga underdogs continue fairytale?

While Hearts will face a formidable challenge from Heidenheim, it may not be as stiff as it would have been last season.

As with any small club which finds success bigger clubs swooped for their best players in the summer.

Jan-Niklas Beste was sold to Benfica for £8m, Tim Kleindienst went to Borussia Monchengladbach, and Eren Dinkci’s loan from Werder Bremend ended.

Between them they scored 30 of Heidenheim’s 50 league goals. Beste also contributed 11 assists, often from excellent set-pieces.

The club, with by far the lowest budget in the Bundesliga, did not spend big to replace the trio, and the start of this season has been mixed.

They are 13th in the league with three wins from nine and have only won one of their last six games, against Pafos in the Conference League.

Another positive for Hearts is Schmidt has tended to rotate his team for European games, with regular Bundesliga starters sitting on the bench on Thursday nights.

Paul Wanner, the on loan Bayern Munich number 10 with a big reputation, has yet to start in this competition despite scoring the winner against Olimpija Ljubljana.

The 18-year-old is the youngest ever player to feature for Bayern having done so when he was just 16, and has been likened to Kai Havertz and Florian Wirtz already in his short career.

Heidenheim’s strength undoubtedly is the collective, though. The club and its fans are living a dream which they will give everything to continue at Tynecastle.