Hibs make history before Midtjylland - now it's about a seismic result at their fortress

More than 18,500 home fans are expected on Thursday night for the second leg of this tie, which is finely poised at 1-1 following the first leg in Herning last week. Hibs believe this will set a new club record home attendance since the stadium was redeveloped in the 1990s and 2000s.

The hope will be that this enlarged green-and-white army can roar Hibs over the line against pretty decent Danish opposition. The draw at the MCH Arena was a merited scoreline for David Gray’s men, who clearly caught the SuperLiga side off-guard with their disciplined defensive performance and pacey prowess in attack. Midtjylland were booed off the pitch by their own fans but responded on Monday night by skelping Sonderjyske 6-2, with star striker Franculino bagging a hat-trick.

As Hibs head coach Gray is at pains to point out, the job is far from done. Midtjylland are experienced European campaigners. Two seasons ago they were in the Champions League and last year they made it to the knock-out phase of the Europa League before eventually succumbing to Real Sociedad. They’ve rubbed shoulders with some good teams.

Hibs will hope that a raucous Easter Road can spook them. What the Danes have shown in their three competitive matches this season is that while they can score (ten goals), they also leave the door open with six concessions. Only 200 travelling fans are expected to make the journey to Scotland.

Hibs’ sense of excitement is heightened by the fact they have not lost competitively at Easter Road since November 9 last year, when St Mirren turned them over. There have been victories over Celtic, Hearts, Aberdeen and two draws with Rangers. Most visitors in 2025 have left empty-handed. For too long Easter Road has not been a fortress; it is now.

Hibs want to top list with Midtjylland scalp

“I think any team that's going to be successful rely on a really strong home form,” said Gray in his pre-match press conference. "You just touched on some of the big teams we've managed to beat at Easter Road, and this would certainly be right at the very top of that list if we were able to go and do that, and progress in the tie.

"You want your home form to be as good as it can be, and make it a difficult place to come with the atmosphere, and the fans will certainly do that on Thursday night, which will be great. They will be right behind the players right from the first second of the game, so I'm really looking forward to it myself.”

Gray has played his part in some memorable Easter Road European nights as player, not least scoring in a 3-2 win over Asteras Tripolis in 2018 when the hosts were 2-0 down. The former right-back admitted to a tinge of envy to those involved on the pitch.

"It's probably one of the games where I'll sit and go, 'Wish I was playing tonight',” he laughed, before adding, “and then after five minutes it's, 'Thank God I'm not playing tonight' when you see the speed some people are running!

"There's a real feel-good factor around the place at the minute, and it's a reward for how well we've done."

Should Hibs lose - and Midtjylland remain favourites to make it through to a third-round tie with Norwegian side Fredrikstad - then they will remain in Europe. They would drop into the Conference League third qualifying round and most likely face Serbian side Partizan Belgrade, who lead Oleksandriya 2-0 from the first leg. But there is no doubting that Hibs want to be heading just south of Oslo next week rather than the Balkans. It is a nice quest to have given that they were bottom of the Premiership just last winter.

Mood around Easter Road ‘is so good’

“The mood around the club right now is so good and everyone's on a real high,” said defender Jack Iredale. “We want to make sure we continue that and we wouldn't be able to get here without the fans supporting us. They stuck with us in real difficult times and now I feel like we're paying them back a little bit. They're going to play such a massive role tomorrow, so I can't wait for the atmosphere and playing under the lights.”

Iredale only joined Hibs less than a year ago, yet the impressive Australian centre-half already has given Easter Road a moment to savour with a volleyed derby winner from outside the penalty box. "Oh, a volley from 30 yards?” he smiled when asked of a repeat. “I'll see what I can do. I wouldn't hold your breath for that one.”

Perhaps not, but Hibs do a have a decent shot in this tie. Owned by Anders Holch Povlsen, the richest man in Denmark, the pressure is on Midtjylland to prevail and should the Leithers make it through, it would be one of Scottish football’s best achievements in Europe outside of the Old Firm in recent times.

"These are the games, it's why you do it,” added Gray. “You might never get the opportunity to do these things again. We need to make sure the players are ready, the game plan's in place, we know where we still need to improve from the first leg. We're under no illusions that the task is going to be huge, we know that. But go and enjoy it as well, you need to embrace it.

“These are games that, if you don't can't get up for these, can't look forward to these. I'd be certainly questioning the players, but I'm definitely not feeling that. I'm feeling it in training every day, and everybody's looking forward to it.”