Before their Europa League round of 16 matchup with Rangers, Benfica is “riddled with weaknesses.”
Journalist Stephen McGowan claims as much, with the first leg scheduled for this Thursday, March 7, in Portugal.Rangers will play the second leg at Ibrox on March 14 and go to the knockout stages after winning their group.For the Scottish Daily Mail, McGowan stated, “Benfica are a team riddled with weaknesses despite a turnover of £167 million – almost exactly double the Rangers figure of £84 million” (page 69, 6 March). The Ibrox team has a history of taking advantage of their European rivals’ unrest, and a 5-0 loss to Porto over the weekend has put head coach Roger Schmidt under a lot of strain.
“The Portuguese champions have been lacklustre in Europe, despite bringing in Argentine World Cup winner Angel Di Maria for a second stint and having two exceptional players in 20-year-old Portuguese international central defender Antonio Silva and 19-year-old midfielder Joao Neves.They were defeated by Real Sociedad and Inter Milan in their Champions League group, having lost their opening four games. They also survived a close match against Toulouse, a French midtable team, in the Europa League play-off round.
In the Europa League, can Rangers defeat Benfica?
Benfica has undoubtedly had a difficult season in Europe, but they still have a chance to win something because to their tenacity and strong team.The Champions League trophy will obviously disappoint them, but the Europa League trophy would still represent a tremendous accomplishment for the Portuguese team.But the Gers are in their way, and considering how they won a tough Group C, they should be quietly confident.The Ibrox team nearly didn’t get it to the following round, but an incredible series of circumstances allowed them to secure first place.
However, Philippe Clement’s team enters the match fresh off a heartbreaking 2-1 Scottish Premiership victory at Ibrox on Saturday (2 March) over Motherwell.Neither team wants to lose in Portugal on Thursday night, especially after Benfica also dropped their match over the weekend.
In other Rangers news, following their performance in the Scottish Youth Cup, the team has a bright future ahead of them.
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