Hearts won the Scottish Women's Premier League for the first time last season. The reward is a debut in the UEFA Women's Champions League, and the stage is Denmark this week.

The club's European bow comes in a mini-tournament format: two semi-finals on Wednesday, then a final on Saturday, with the winner advancing in the competition. Hearts face Gintra in their semi-final — a club from Lithuania who have won their domestic title every year since 2005 and currently lead the 2026 Moteru A Lyga, twelve games into their season (BBC Sport).

Gintra are no strangers to this level. Two seasons ago they hosted a similar qualifying tournament in Lithuania and reached the final, where they lost 2-0 to Celtic. Last year they beat Romanian side Farul Constanța in their semi-final but fell to Ukraine's Vorskla Poltava in the final (BBC Sport).

If Hearts get past Gintra, Saturday's final brings either HB Koge or Riga of Latvia. HB Koge claimed the Danish title for a fourth time this year and added the domestic cup. Their squad is stacked with international quality: Denmark internationals Rikke Madsen, Mille Gejl and Simone Boye, plus Nadia Nadim — formerly of Manchester City — and Republic of Ireland striker Kyra Carusa. Koge also reached the Champions League group stage proper in 2021-22, the round where 16 clubs play each other in a league format.

Riga are equally dangerous. They beat Glentoran 4-1 in their first qualifying-round semi-final and repeated that exact scoreline in the final against Wrexham. They sit three points behind RFS in the Latvian league with three games in hand, on course for a third consecutive title, and in June recorded a 22-0 win over bottom side Rezekne. Their squad includes Japanese defender Miyu Takahira, who was with Danish side Fortuna Hjorring when they beat Hibernian — Hearts' Edinburgh rivals — at this same stage last season (BBC Sport).

The European adventure begins, though, under new management. Eva Olid, the head coach who delivered that historic title, stepped down after saying she was not getting the financial support she deserved. Her replacement is Andy Thomson, who was assistant at Rangers — the very club Hearts pipped to the championship (BBC Sport).

Thomson has had a busy first window. Defender Ebonie Locke has arrived on a short-term loan from Birmingham City, while Northern Ireland midfielder Joely Andrews has departed for city rivals Hibernian. The squad Thomson inherited is a title-winning one, but European football asks different questions — deeper benches, tougher travel, opponents who have been doing this for years.

For Hearts fans, this week is uncharted territory. Their women's team has never played a European match. Gintra have been qualifying for Champions League tournaments for two decades. The gap in experience is real, and the format offers no second chances: lose the semi-final and the European dream is over before the weekend.