Rangers manager Philippe Clement has admitted that he faces a “bad situation” with four of his wingers missing for the Europa League last-16 first-leg match against Benfica on Thursday. The Scottish Premiership leaders will also have to cope with the hostile atmosphere at the Estadio da Luz, where the Portuguese giants are looking to bounce back from a humiliating 5-0 defeat to Porto on Sunday.
Wingers woes for Clement
Clement, who led Rangers to the top of their qualifying group with a stunning win away to Real Betis, has been hit by a series of injuries to his attacking players. He will be without Ryan Kent, Scott Wright, Jordan Jones and Kemar Roofe for the trip to Lisbon, leaving him with limited options on the flanks. He also revealed that Ross McCausland, who was forced off early with a leg injury against Motherwell on Saturday, could be added to the absentees.
“That is a bad situation,” he said. “We are missing a lot of offensive quality. We need to find a solution. We have a decision to either change the system or play players in a position they are not used to.”
Clement could opt to play a more defensive formation, with Joe Aribo and Ianis Hagi supporting lone striker Alfredo Morelos, or he could give a chance to some of the youngsters from the academy, such as Kai Kennedy or Charlie Lindsay.
Benfica seek redemption after Porto thrashing
Rangers will face a wounded Benfica side, who suffered their worst defeat in 14 years at the hands of their arch-rivals Porto on Sunday. The result saw them lose their lead in the Primeira Liga to Sporting Lisbon, who are now four points clear at the top. Benfica also finished third in their Champions League group behind Real Sociedad and Inter Milan, before edging out Toulouse in the play-off to reach the last 16 of the Europa League.
Benfica manager Roger Schmidt, who has been criticised by the fans for not issuing a public apology for the Porto debacle, said he expects “a reaction” from his players against Rangers. He said: “We want to show a good reaction after Sunday. After the match, we were all a little bit shocked about the result and of course we were also not happy with the performance.”
Schmidt has a full squad to choose from, with former Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain and Spain left-back Juan Bernat the only absentee. He can count on the experience and quality of players such as Joao Felix, Rafa Silva, Pizzi, Julian Weigl and Nicolas Otamendi, as well as the goalscoring threat of Haris Seferovic and Darwin Nunez.
Rangers aim to repeat Betis heroics
Rangers will need to produce a similar performance to the one that saw them beat Real Betis 3-2 in Seville in November, when they secured top spot in their group with a game to spare. Clement said he was confident that his team could cause problems for Benfica, despite their injury woes. He said: “We are playing a good team with a lot of quality. It’s a huge challenge. This is exciting for us. We are playing a team with double our budget, but we are really ambitious. We need to over-perform and get a little bit of luck. We have to be very efficient.”
Clement also said he was not worried about the hostile atmosphere at the Estadio da Luz, where Benfica have won 10 of their 11 home games this season, scoring 32 goals and conceding only six. He said: “We come to win. I never play to get a draw. I don’t believe in parking the bus and only defending, I have never done that. Even against PSG and in Madrid I have attacked.”
Rangers have a good record in Portugal, having won three and drawn two of their last five visits. They also have fond memories of the Estadio da Luz, where they beat Porto 2-0 in the 2005-06 Champions League group stage, with goals from Peter Lovenkrands and Dado Prso.
The match kicks off at 20:00 GMT on Thursday and will be broadcast live on BBC Sounds and Radio Scotland. You can also follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app.
