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Benfica boss gripped by Hearts story as Marco Silva still sees danger despite sweeping changes Silva watched as the Jambos came within minutes of the Premiership title and is full of respect ahead of their Europa League qualifier Marco Silva was glued to the gripping story of Hearts almost bursting Glasgow’s domination of the Scottish Premiership, writes Craig Swan in Lisbon. And, despite the sweeping changes at Tynecastle since the club took last term’s title fight into the final minutes in May, the Benfica boss is adamant Wouter Vrancken ’s new-look side still offer big danger. Having spent nine years working in England, Silva has been close to the game in Scotland and Hearts’ bid for glory fully grabbed his attention. In his final days at Fulham, he looked on as the Capital club almost claimed a first title in 66 years to end the unbroken run of success enjoyed by Celtic and Rangers in the top flight over the past four decades. Major alterations have, of course, taken place in Gorgie since, but Silva refuses to entertain notions that Vrancken’s troops lack threat ahead of tonight’s clash in the Estadio da Luz. Hearts have lost three out of three competitive matches this term so far, but, asked if they remain dangerous opponents, he replied: “Definitely, definitely they are. “Of course, as you know, I've been in the Premier League so many years and the Premier League in Scotland is something that we followed last season, as always we need to follow. “I even remember watching the last game and all that amazing story about the last game and the chances for Hearts to become champions after so many, many years. “Of course, two big clubs most of the time they get the title and the fight between them is huge every single time. But last season was a good example of when one club started to go and compete with them. “I think it's good for the competition, it's good for you that follow, to make other clubs to be involved in that competition between the two biggest clubs in the country. “Of course, it's going to be dangerous, always dangerous. The atmosphere, when you arrive at the second game, it's going to be there for sure. But it's important to be strong to show our quality [in the first leg], but also respect for the quality they have, quality in the last season as well. “A lot of changes, the manager has changed as well and, of course, they need time to adapt, but they were competing to be in the Champions League. “We respect them, respect the competition and of course they are going to make our lives difficult for sure. We have to be ready, we have to be at our best level to be ready to compete and to win it. “They are going to demand us to be at our best level. But definitely, it's a team that we respect and the Scottish competition is something that we'll follow.” Silva first moved to England in 2017 when he was appointed the manager at Hull and went onto take charge at both Watford and Everton before signing off from Craven Cottage at the end of last term. That time spent south of the border gives him an obvious indication of what to expect tonight when Benfica go into this Europa League encounter and he’s aware of the importance of getting their noses firmly in front in the two-legged tie ahead of next week’s trip to Scotland. He said: “It’s clear there's some similarities with the Premier League, the Championship as well, the way they compete. “The home factor and playing at home is always a big part on their game. The atmosphere around the game and all that stuff that is very important in the way they want to play, the way they want to be strong at home. “As well, I'm not saying that it's not going to be difficult tomorrow because they are playing away because they are going to be capable to create problems for us. “The home factor is something decisive. And in the second leg we will not have that. We will try to impact with the home factor. “We will try to play with that. To feel the importance and to know the importance of playing the first knockout game in the Benfica stadium. That's the different thing compared with the game against St Gallen [previous round]. “It will be a different team. They [Hearts] have similar things but they are a different team. The main difference is in the offensive moment and the ambition to win the game. Of course we would like to go comfortable to the next game, but as of now, we need to win this game.” Silva is juggling his squad through the transfer window ahead of the Portuguese League starting this weekend and captain Antonio Silva has left since the St Gallen win to join Bournemouth for £25 million The boss is working out plans for a new captain and said: “That's something that I need to take, that I need to choose. I would like to have the group more complete. Since Sunday we completed the group with some new faces. But of course there will be some changes until the end of the market. "You cannot make evaluations about the market in the beginning of August. And some questions that we would like to have in a faster way. We cannot assure that. And about the new players. “There is something that we can deal with it. But about the players leaving the club. It's something that we cannot control. And from now on the market is like this. "We don't want to get a player just for one or two games. And for the rest of the season is not what we want. But when we lose someone like Antonio, we need to try to get a new signing to improve the team."