In advance of the “special” night, Fabio Silva talks about his time at Benfica as a Rangers star and the road that earned him a £35 million transfer.

It’s no secret, according to Fabio Silva, that he grew up supporting his old team, Porto.

However, the star player on loan from Rangers isn’t trying to downplay the significance of Benfica, their fierce rivals in Portugal, in his path to Ibrox. The 21-year-old joined the Dragons’ youth system and completed it there before earning a £35 million transfer to Wolves in 2019. However, as a schoolboy, he also squeezed in a brief two-year stint with the Eagles in Lisbon. Furthermore, Silva maintains that his time in the Benfica academy was essential to his development as a football player.

“Everyone knows who I’ve supported since I was a kid,” the Gers frontman stated in advance of Thursday’s Europa League reunion with his former team. I don’t have to express it. Everybody cheers for the same team, and I was no different. However, I had two excellent years at Benfica when I was younger.

I received a lot of affection from everyone. I have nothing negative to say. But later on in life, you decide to take a different path. Naturally, returning to my native nation is always special.

“I am excited for my first Europa League game as a Rangers player. It is a big game between two big teams in Europe. I can’t wait to play this game.

“I am familiar with Benfica, and I also know a few of their national team players.” Of course, it’s good to see some familiar faces. But for now, Rangers are the most significant thing to me.

“I am thinking about my first game in Europe with the team, which I am looking forward to.” Indeed, returning to my native country to visit friends and family is a unique experience. Naturally, the fact that I played here when I was younger makes it much more precious.

“I have nothing bad to say about anyone here; I spent two years here and everyone offered me everything. Playing here is going to hold significant meaning for me. I’ve mentioned it before, but I enjoyed two wonderful years here.

“Everyone here showed me so much love and taught me so many valuable lessons.” Speaking the truth about it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. But like anything else, there are moments in life when your path takes you in a new direction, and that’s when I decided to join a different club. However, I am rather pleased with that.

Silva would have had plenty of reason to cheer Sunday’s result at the Estadio do Dragao as Porto dished out a 5-0 thumping of Roger Schmidt’s side just a week after they’d also lost to derby foes Sporting. Those two results have prompted a furious backlash from the Lisbon legions, with rumours rife that Benfica’s German boss could be heading for his jotters if his side don’t get back on track in this last 16 clash with their Ibrox opponents.

Silva, however, is not holding out much hope that those weekend woes will have an impact on his team’s chances. “No, it was a different game,” he said. “The matches between Benfica and Porto are always special, the environment is always special.

“This time it was a good result for Porto but other times Benfica sometimes win. These games are ones you never know who is going to win but they are always special.

“Obviously I saw the game, I fol

low-key Portuguese football matches that I enjoy seeing. But since they have to act fast, it will be a distinct element and might be good or negative.

“We are aware of their pressure, but we have heard a lot about that game. That being said, it is unrelated to tomorrow because, like us, they are competing in two distinct leagues and want to place as high as possible. The most crucial thing is that the first leg will be a good match for both teams, and spectators will have a fantastic time watching it.

The hosts are the clear favourites to make it to the quarterfinals, according to Philippe Clement, and Silva wasn’t about to argue with his Ibrox boss. “They can definitely be considered favourites because Benfica and Rangers have different budgets,” he remarked.

“We are aware of that, but we also shown our strength in the Scottish League and the League Cup by winning our Europa League group. We don’t pay attention to outside comments or what other people think because we’re still competing in every competition.

“We put our jobs and ourselves first. And you can tell that we are working hard and will keep working hard if you look at all the competition we have within.

Before earning his big-time move to England, Silva played in just 15 first-team games for Porto, none of which came against Thursday’s opponents. However, he is sufficiently aware of the difficult job that awaits him at Estadio da Luz.

“We know it’s going to be a difficult game, but Benfica will need to show a quick reaction from the last two games,” he stated. They are under pressure, of course, to impress their followers. And they must respond in a way that the fans desire.

We anticipate that this will be a challenging game. However, these are the games that you ought to play. There are two elite teams and two illustrious clubs.

Both the Rangers and the Benfica squads must win each and every game. That increases pressure, therefore both teams will play well in this match.

“Everyone knows that participating in this competition is always special, therefore there’s no need for encouragement to play this game. Because we are playing against a quality squad in a nice venue, we are highly motivated.

“This game is going to be challenging. Given their poor performance in their previous two outings, they must respond to their supporters. Although we anticipate that, we are ready for everything. We should take into account the fact that there are two games instead of only one.

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