Hearts Berpeluang Segel Gelar Juara Liga Skotlandia Kontra Falkirk

Heart of Midlothian berpeluang mengakhiri penantian gelar juara Scottish Premiership selama 66 tahun saat menjamu Falkirk di Tynecastle Park pada Rabu malam, 13 Mei 2026. Kepastian gelar juara ini bergantung pada kemenangan Hearts dan kekalahan pesaing terdekat, Celtic, yang bertandang ke markas Motherwell.

Saat ini Hearts memimpin klasemen dengan keunggulan satu poin atas Celtic dengan sisa dua pertandingan. Dilansir dari The Guardian, jika gelar tidak tersegel malam ini, penentuan juara akan berlanjut ke laga krusial saat kedua tim bertemu pada Sabtu mendatang.

Manajer Hearts, Derek McInnes, menyatakan telah mempersiapkan timnya untuk menghadapi skenario terburuk hingga pekan terakhir. Ia juga memuji konsistensi anak asuhnya yang mampu mengungguli tim-tim besar sepanjang musim kompetisi berlangsung.

"I’ve just assumed Celtic are going to win their game, I’ve had it in my head that we’re going to the last game and I’m prepared for that. Listen, there’s no easy games for anybody, nothing’s straightforward. Motherwell are a more than capable team. They were fully committed against us and I’m sure that’ll be the same again against Celtic. We have been trying to hold off a couple of heavyweights for a long time now. We’ve managed to see off Rangers and we’ve got to try and see off Celtic over the next two games. I think the facts show we’re coping brilliantly. We’ve already broken a club record in terms of points tally and we’ve got a Champions League qualifier already secured, but obviously we want to try and go one better now and win the league." ujar Derek McInnes, Manajer Hearts.

McInnes menambahkan bahwa momen ini sangat langka bagi sejarah klub dan para pendukungnya. Ia menyadari bahwa memenangkan liga di kandang sendiri merupakan pencapaian yang sangat sulit direalisasikan dalam beberapa dekade terakhir.

"It’s nice to be able to hear ‘Hearts could win the league at Tynecastle,’" kata Derek McInnes, Manajer Hearts.

McInnes menilai peluang mereka tetap besar meski Celtic sedang dalam tren positif lima kemenangan beruntun.

"I don’t know how many people have been able to say that in their lifetime. The likelihood is we are going to have to win two games or certainly pick up four points." imbuh Derek McInnes, Manajer Hearts.

Pihak manajemen Hearts melalui situs resminya meminta para pendukung untuk tidak melakukan invasi ke lapangan pada akhir laga. Klub berencana mengadakan putaran kehormatan sebagai bentuk terima kasih kepada suporter di laga kandang terakhir musim ini.

Sementara itu, manajer Motherwell, Jens Berthel Askou, merespons spekulasi mengenai masa depannya di tengah persiapan menghadapi Celtic. Melansir laporan BBC, Askou menganggap rumor keterkaitannya dengan klub Toulouse sebagai tanda positif atas kinerja timnya.

"I would much rather speak about the game, so the answer will be very short, or as short as I can give it," kata Jens Berthel Askou, Manajer Motherwell.

Ia menegaskan fokusnya saat ini adalah memberikan hasil maksimal di sisa kompetisi Liga Skotlandia.

"There has been many things written about this wonderful football club and what we have achieved, and also speculation and links about me and especially a lot of the players, which I all take as a positive sign that we are doing something right. That's all I can comment on or want to comment about that." jelas Jens Berthel Askou, Manajer Motherwell.

Askou menganggap pertandingan melawan Celtic memiliki atmosfer layaknya sebuah partai final bagi timnya.

"We are here to play a football game, a very, very important football game for us, and that's really exciting. Look, we missed out on an opportunity to go to Hampden because we weren't there on the night against St Mirren and play a final, then we missed a good opportunity as the draw turned out in the Scottish Cup to maybe go further because everything that could go wrong went wrong at Aberdeen that night. And this is kind of the closest we get to playing a final this season, so we are extremely excited about that." tutur Jens Berthel Askou, Manajer Motherwell.

Pertandingan antara Hearts melawan Falkirk, Motherwell menjamu Celtic, serta Rangers menghadapi Hibernian dijadwalkan berlangsung serentak pada pukul 20.00 waktu setempat.