Hearts to play Osasuna in pre-Euro friendly

HEARTS have confirmed a friendly with Spanish side Osasuna on Wednesday, July 19, as a prelude to both clubs' participation in the Champions League qualifiers.

By virtue of their finishing fourth in Spain's La Liga last season, just two points behind second-placed Real Madrid, Osasuna automatically enter the third qualifying round of the Champions League as an unseeded club.
Should Hearts progress from the second qualifying round to the third, they would also be unseeded and therefore could not meet the Spaniards, who will bring with them a strong group for a mini tour of Scotland next month, during which they will also play Dunfermline.

Included in the Osasuna squad are the former Manchester United goalkeeper Ricardo and ex-Aston Villa striker Savo Milosevic.

A spokesperson for Hearts said today: "We are delighted. This will be a stern test for the team so early in the season, but it will provide us all with a good indication of the standard that we will face as we hopefully progress in European competition.

"While we are currently finalising our pricing package for this game we want to attract a large crowd. We are looking at keeping prices as competitive as possible."

The game is scheduled for Tynecastle, but could be moved to Murrayfield.

Taken from the Scotsman