By Alistair Aird
‘Thursday nights are Rangers nights’ was a phrase that was often uttered during the magnificent run to the Europa League Final in Seville two years ago. But it wouldn’t be coined on this occasion. Instead, we hoped to hear the inaugural use of ‘Thursday evenings are Rangers evenings’ as Rangers took to the field for a Europa League match at 17:45 rather than 20:00 for the first time ever.
The decision of UEFA to slot this fixture into the earlier start time wasn’t well-received by the Rangers hierarchy, but an appeal to the governing body fell on deaf ears. Cue a fusillade of holiday requests and shift changes the next morning as the Rangers fans changed their plans to ensure that they could ride that rollercoaster of emotions that these matches invariably bring. After all, this season we are looking for ‘everything from everyone.’
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Philippe Clement had done something he has rarely done before in his terrific tenure thus far: he named an unchanged starting XI. And he may well have done so again for this one had Dujon Sterling not picked up an injury during the 2-0 victory over Hibernian in the Scottish Cup. The absence of the versatile Sterling was, however, the only alteration, with Scott Wright chosen to fill the wide right role ahead of the likes of Rabbi Matondo and Ross McCausland.
There was a welcome return to the matchday squad for Todd Cantwell too, the Englishman having last played on 18 February against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park. He formed part of a strong bench. Despite the squad having had rotten luck with injuries, Clement still had strong reinforcements to call upon during the match.
Although Benfica had a far superior transfer budget and could call upon formidable talents like Angel di Maria, in order to progress to the last eight of the competition, they would have to do something that only Olympique Lyonnais, Bayer Leverkusen, and Slavia Prague had done in the Europa League: win at Ibrox. Extra time and kicks from the penalty mark could be called upon if required.
After a day of incessant rain in the west of Scotland, the conditions for this one could best be described as ‘dreich’, or, as they say in Portugal, a tad ‘umido’ (damp). But although it would undoubtedly be slick, the playing surface looked immaculate. The stage was set therefore set for a festival of football. The call to arms was sounded once again, it was time for everyone to give everything once more.
If there were any doubts that the early kick off would dampen the ardour of the Rangers supporters, then they were firmly put to bed in the minutes before the two teams emerged from their respective dressing rooms. Aided by the raucous and rowdy benfiquistas, the assembled masses created an atmosphere that could have rocked the Richter scale never mind damaging a decibel meter.
And then it was time. As the Europa League anthem echoed through the sound system and the the emblem was raised in the centre circle, the teams emerged. And after breaking away to their respective ends, they assumed their positions, and the referee, Ivan Kruzliak from Slovakia, got the game underway.
Would Rangers rise or the eagles of Benfica soar?
After wearing the white and blue alternate kit in Lisbon, Rangers reverted to the traditional royal blue jerseys, white shorts, and black socks with red tops for this one. But the XI clad in those colours had to stem the tide in the early stages as the visitors enjoyed some sustained spells of possession. When Rangers did have the ball, the tactic seemed to be to play long balls forward, with Lundstram often dropping deep such that it looked like the home side were playing with three centre backs.
After six minutes, a sliding Souttar intervened to thwart a Benfica attack. Rangers hadn’t settled yet and passing accuracy in the opening stages sat at 69%. Clement is fond of analysing the stats, but this was one that he would certainly hope would improve as the match progressed.
After 10 minutes, the crowd rose as Silva worked the ball to the far post, but it was just too high for Scott Wright to direct an effort on goal. And when the Portuguese man foraged forward shortly afterwards, he found Lawrence in the inside right position. The Welshman tested Trubin with a right foot shot, but the resulting corner came to nothing.
What was evident was that this game was going to be an open one, a proper end-to-end ding dong. But as ever in ties such as this, the opening goal would be vitally important.
Scott Wright is a much-maligned member of the squad, but his tenacity won a corner after 17 minutes. It was cleared and Ridvan’s shot was blocked. Benfica then sped to the other end, but the ball fizzed across goal by Rafa Silva found no takers in red.
After 25 minutes, there was a poignant moment when the fans applauded for a minute to mark the passing of Thomas McAllister, the supporter who died in Lisbon last week. No one should ever go to a football match and not return home. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
At this stage, Rangers started to enjoy some possession. Some sharp passing in midfield created a couple of openings in the wide area, and the deliveries caused some concern in the Benfica back line. But there was still some anxiety in their play at times too, which was understandable given how finely poised this tie was.
A standout performer in the opening half hour had been John Souttar. He had made five clearances and a couple of interceptions and completed 33 of his 35 passes. He had successfully won his one and only ground duel too.
Benfica almost hit the front after 37 minutes. As ball was pinged across the penalty area, Tavernier and Goldson were both called upon to make blocking challenges. That resulted in three corners in succession, the last of which was taken by di Maria. Tavernier rose imperiously to meet it, and Rangers were away on the break. Wright did superbly to drive deep into opposition territory and feed Lawrence. His pass picked out Dessers, but his effort was parried away. It wouldn’t have counted anyway as the assistant referee in front of the Sandy Jardine Stand thrust his flag into the air.
The game was continuing to ebb and flow, but that first goal was still proving elusive. And Rangers pursuit of it wasn’t helped when Wright carelessly gave the ball away three minutes before the break. A better pass would have seen Dessers with a clear run in on goal.
There would be one minute of additional time at the end of the first half. And in that extra 60 seconds, Butland had hearts fluttering when he sprinted out of his area and headed the ball out for a throw in. But the half ended with the sides deadlocked which set things up nicely for the second 45 minutes.
Tina Turner’s ‘The Best’ was the anthem of choice as the teams emerged after their dressing room refreshments. Rangers were unchanged, and immediately on the attack, forcing the Benfica goalkeeper to hurry his clearance and slice it into the stand. And moments later, after more fine play from Wright, Dessers stepped inside, but his shot was deflected wide. From the resulting corner, Lundstram fired wide from long range.
Five minutes in, Tavernier curled in a beautiful ball towards Dessers and the deflection off the defender took the ball narrowly wide. You felt the goal was coming.
Diomande was the next to go close with a curling effort that was dealt with comfortably by Trubin. But Benfica weren’t out of it by any means, and some slack play from Goldson earned him a booking and the visitors a free kick in a promising position. It was curled in by di Maria, and after some ping pong in the box, Rangers broke out only for play to be called back due to an offside flag.
Rangers were enjoying some good possession at this point. They just lacked that bit of guile, the final pass to pierce the red line that was being marshalled superbly by Nicolas Otamendi. And that lack of quality was illustrated when Diomande over cooked a cross to the back post on the hour mark.
At the other end, Ridvan did superbly to twice block efforts from di Maria, but it was all a bit cagey now. Both teams looked nervous, the fear of that error or lapse in concentration seeming to paralyse them and stymie any forward thrusts.
There seemed to be a let off for Rangers on 66 minutes, and it came from their own corner too. Dessers couldn’t get the ball out his feet and when the ball was cleared, di Maria played Rafa Silva in on goal. He despatched the ball with aplomb but was flagged offside. However, after a lengthy VAR check, the goal was given.
For the first time in the tie, Benfica had the lead. Could Rangers respond?
Clement made a double change. Off went Wright and Lawrence and on came Matondo and Cantwell. The former offered pace and the latter guile in abundance, and they were followed shortly afterwards by Kemar Roofe who replaced the ineffectual Dessers. Could any of them unlock the door?
The initial response was to go long and try and turn the Portuguese defence. Matondo then spooned a cross into the stand. Frustrations were starting to come to the fore, although you still felt there would be opportunities to score in the eight remaining minutes.
But instead of Rangers carving out a chance, Benfica came within a whisker of scoring a second when Bah drew a diving save from Butland. That was further evidence that Butland should have been included in the England squad. Inactive for a large part of the proceedings, he came to Rangers’ rescue and kept them in the tie.
Raskin was introduced for Diomande, but time was running out. Lundstram had a shot at goal from inside the D, but it didn’t trouble Trubin.
The VAR intervention meant we had five additional minutes to play. Time for the noise level to rise, but there was still no tempo to Rangers play. The goal seemed to have sucked belief and energy out of the players, and they had hardly laid a glove on the well-drilled Benfica defence.
Cantwell fired across goal after some dallying by Silva, but it looked as if he had handled the ball in the build up so it would likely not have counted even if Roofe had managed to stretch and turn the ball into the net.
It was all over. Dreams of Dublin had died. But despite the defeat, we have to reflect positively on the Europa League campaign and also recognise that we have exited the competition to a very good side. They are unlikely to win the tournament, but they showed their class throughout the second half, particularly after they scored.
For Rangers, the focus is now on domestic duties. There is still a distinct possibility that this squad will snare the domestic Treble, which was unthinkable a few months ago. This was a sore one to take – with a little more belief, the outcome may well have been different – but there is still much to look forward to as season 2023/24 hurtles towards its conclusion.