Europe’s best title race is in Scotland: Explaining Hearts, Celtic and a decisive week

**Wait, the Scottish league does** ***what?***

The 12-team division splits into two groups of six for the final five matches of the season, with each team playing every other team in their group once. This creates some nail-biting tension down the stretch, as the relegation rivals face each other, as do the title challengers. It also satisfies TV broadcasters, who now get four Old Firm league derbies to broadcast every year. The problem is that until this season, the split hasn’t generated much in the way of title excitement because Celtic or Rangers (usually Celtic) have already disappeared over the horizon by then. This season, though, the format has come into its own, adding another layer to the most captivating Scottish title race in decades – and potentially the best title race in European football. Related: Daizen Maeda’s brilliance takes Celtic past Rangers and puts Hearts on spot

**What’s Hearts’ story?**

When, in his first TV interview as Hearts minority owner, Tony Bloom predicted his team could challenge for the Scottish title this season, the guffawing could be heard all over Scotland, not just from Glasgow. While the Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise owner’s ambition was refreshing, his comments seemed naive. Hearts hadn’t even finished in the top half the season before. Bloom, however, clearly saw something nobody else did. Hearts won eight of their opening nine league fixtures to go top, where they have remained all season. Not content with merely challenging Celtic and Rangers, as Bloom vowed, the team are just two games from bringing the title to Edinburgh, becoming the first non-Old Firm team to win the Scottish title since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen in 1985. It’s been 66 years since Hearts last won the Scottish title. This is a club steeped in history and tradition, from its Tynecastle Park home that has hosted league soccer since the 19th century to the battalion of Hearts players that fought in the first world war and the fact the club’s full name (Heart of Midlothian) comes from a Sir Walter Scott novel of the same title. Hearts’ recent success is rooted in more modern practices, as Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics has transformed the club’s recruitment strategy. They have adopted the Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise playbook, finding first-team players in places like the Norwegian second tier (Claudio Braga) and Slovakian top division (Alexandros Kyziridis). Hearts are now full-blown data crunchers. The value of Derek McInnes’ steady managerial hand might not be shown in any data model. Having been round the block more than a few times as Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and St Johnstone manager, the 54-year-old wasn’t the most typical Jamestown appointment in terms of his profile or his stodgy, often conservative playing style. Ultimately, McInnes may be evolved out of Jamestown’s final vision for Hearts, but his experience has been crucial as Celtic and Rangers have jostled for position behind the league leaders. Within a few days, he could emulate Ferguson and his players could become legends. Related: