One week on from their thrilling 2-2 first-leg draw in Lisbon, Rangers welcome Benfica to Ibrox for the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday night.
After the Gers were pegged back twice by their Portuguese counterparts, the tie is finely poised as both clubs eye a place in the quarter-finals.
Match preview
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Benfica certainly had their work cut out in the first leg to preserve their impressive unbeaten home run in the Europa League, stretching across 27 matches, as they came up against a spirited Rangers outfit who took an early lead thanks to Tom Lawrence's inch-perfect header.
The Eagles were then controversially awarded a penalty, which Angel di Maria dispatched, after John Souttar was penalised for heading the ball against his own arm; Dujon Sterling put the Gers back in front on the stroke of half time, but Benfica were gifted an equaliser midway through the second half when Connor Goldson nodded the ball into his own net – no player has scored more own goals than Goldson (three) in Europa League history.
Philippe Clement acknowledged that his side were close to writing history in Portugal and was left somewhat deflated after only coming away with a draw, but the Rangers boss was keen to highlight the effort of his players and hopes that the same "mentality" and "energy" can be carried over into the second leg as they endeavour to pull off a "huge, huge" result.
Rangers followed up their draw in Lisbon with a surprising 2-1 home defeat to Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership – albeit remaining two points clear at the summit after Celtic's loss to Hearts – but they have since returned to winning ways after beating nine-man Hibernian 2-0 in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals on Sunday, thanks to goals from John Lundstram and Fabio Silva.
A return to Ibrox on Thursday will be welcomed by Rangers considering that they have not lost any of their last nine Europa League homes games, while they have won eight and drawn three of their previous 11 home encounters with Portuguese opposition, which bodes well in their quest to reach successive Europa League quarter-finals for the first time – last doing so in 2021-22 when the progressed all the way to the final.
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Benfica will have taken positives from their fightback against Rangers in the first leg considering that they had lost their previous two domestic matches by an aggregate score of 7-1 against rivals Sporting Lisbon and Porto, losing 5-0 to the latter in the Primeira Liga just four days before hosting the Gers.
The Eagles have since bounced back from a three-game winless streak after beating Estoril 3-1 on home soil last weekend, with goals from Orkun Kokcu, Marcos Leonardo and Tiago Gouveia helping the reigning Portuguese champions move to within a point of leaders Sporting with nine games remaining.
Despite the victory, manager Roger Schmidt remains under pressure and is wanted out by the club's supporters, who at last weekend's game displayed a banner in German which read: 'No one is above Benfica. Roger Schmidt, thank you and goodbye' – the 56-year-old has since shrugged off the criticism and has no plans to vacate his post.
Reaching a third successive European quarter-final would help Schmidt's cause, and Benfica have reason to be optimistic of success on Thursday as they have won all of their previous five appearances in the last 16 of the Europa League on aggregate, while they have lost only four of their last 22 European games on the road.
However, the Eagles have only managed to progress from one of their last five European knockout ties after failing to win the first leg, and they travel to Ibrox having won just one of their previous six visits to Scotland – a 2-1 win over Hearts in the European Cup back in September 1960.
Team News
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Rangers duo Sterling and Ross McCausland both sustained knocks against Hibs last weekend and have emerged as major doubts for Thursday, while Ryan Jack, Todd Cantwell, Danilo, Abdallah Sima, Kieran Dowell, Scott Wright, Oscar Cortes and Alex Lowry all remain in a packed treatment room.
The Gers have been boosted by the return of Rabbi Matondo, though, who made a cameo substitute appearance last time out, and the winger could be in a position to start on the right flank if Sterling is not deemed fit to feature.
Captain James Tavernier is expected to continue in his advanced right-back role; the Englishman – who missed a penalty against Hibs – has contributed to 31 goals (21 goals and 10 assists) in all competitions so far this season, although none of those have been recorded in seven Europa League appearances.
In stark contrast to Rangers, Benfica only have one injury absentee in left-back Juan Bernat, who has been sidelined since October with a muscle problem.
One of the first names on the teamsheet is in-demand midfielder Joao Neves, who completed the most passes (72), recovered possession on more occasions (12), completed the most dribbles (four) and won the most fouls (four) during an impressive display in the first leg.
Neves, Di Maria and Rafa Silva were all rested at the weekend and are set to be recalled on Thursday, while Schmidt could be tempted to start January signing Leonardo, who scored on his full league debut against Estoril after previously netting four times as a substitute.
Rangers possible starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Yilmaz; Lundstram, Diomande; Matondo, Lawrence, Silva; Roofe
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Bah, A. Silva, Otamendi, Aursnes; Neves, Luis; Neres, R. Silva; Di Maria; Leonardo
We say: Rangers 3-2 Benfica (Rangers to win 5-4 on aggregate)
Each of the last three meetings between Rangers and Benfica - all in the Europa League - have ended as a draw, with both sides scoring at least two goals. Another entertaining end-to-end affair could be in store, but something has to give on Thursday.
While Rangers are without a number of first-team players through injury, a refreshed set of options in key areas across the pitch will strengthen Benfica following their domestic win last weekend. However, the Ibrox factor on a big European night could play a significant role for the Gers, with the home crowd roaring them on to another memorable home triumph.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
