Mo Salah was named in Trabzonspor’s starting XI for the Europa Conference League meeting with Hearts, a line-up call that turned the pre-match team news into the main event. Andre Onana also started for Trabzonspor, while Fabinho was listed among the substitutes.
The match was one of those nights when the team sheets carried as much intrigue as the fixture itself. Trabzonspor named Onana, Kabasakal, Akaydin, Ozkacar, Sidny Lopes Cabral, Jabol-Falcarelli, Mendy, Bouchouari, Salah, Saviolo and Dju Franculino, with Cabral starting at left-back after his summer form for Cape Verde and Franculino rewarded after his goal for Midtjylland against Celtic last season before his move to Turkey.
Hearts, meanwhile, made four changes after the 7-1 loss at Celtic Park. Stephen Kingsley, Josh McPake and Laurent Mendy dropped to the bench, Oisin McEntee was out through injury, and Christian Borchgrevink, Tomas Magnusson, Rogers Mato and James Wilson came in alongside Jamie McCart, who wore the captain's armband. It was a reshuffle made harder by the loss of Harry Milne, who suffered what looked to be a serious injury in training the night before the match.
That left Hearts trying to steady themselves after a heavy defeat while also absorbing another setback, and it meant the focus before kickoff stayed on who was fit enough to play. The full extent of Milne's injury would not be known until he returned to Scotland, but the immediate concern was already plain: Hearts had gone into the game short of certainty, while Trabzonspor had chosen to stack its XI with names that made the lineup impossible to ignore.
The result would have to wait, but the message from the team news was clear. Trabzonspor wanted control, Hearts wanted repair, and the question hanging over both sides was whether those selections would survive the match itself.
