Clement says the depleted Rangers have “nothing to lose.”

Clement says the depleted Rangers have “nothing to lose.”

Rangers vs. Real Betis in the Europa League
Location: Seville’s Estadio Benito Villamarin Date: December 14,

Thursday Start time: 20:00 GMT
Reporting: Stream live written commentary on the BBC Sport website and app,

and tune in to BBC Radio Scotland Extra.

Rangers’ diminished team has “nothing to lose” in their Europa League final against Real Betis,

according to Philippe Clement.

Rangers’ “personal circumstances” have rendered Todd Cantwell unavailable,

Ryan Jack’s fitness test resulted in a failure,

and Danilo’s knee injury will keep him out of action for several months.

Rangers will go into the Europa Conference League if they don’t match Sparta Prague’s performance against Aris Limassol in order to advance to the knockout stages.

Even though Clement thinks it will be Rangers’ hardest test since taking over,

he insists they are heading to Spain ready to win.

Betis are undefeated at home in all competitions this season.

Cifuentes’s appeal was denied, so he misses the final.

“How many home games did they lose this season?” he asked.

“It’s not easy. Teams would have taken action otherwise. Exceptional groups such as Real Madrid.

While we come here with aspirations, we have a great deal of respect for them.

“The game is intriguing. Rangers have nothing to lose in this game.

Next year, we’ll be in Europe. However, we wish to move the group forward once more.

“Over the past few weeks, I have set them a few challenges,

and the team has successfully completed them nearly all of the time.

However, this might be the largest one up to this point.

“It’s going to be a really big test, but I feel something special in the group.”

This week will have a significant impact on how the Ibrox team plays this season,

especially with the Viaplay Cup final against Aberdeen on Sunday.

Clement continued, “I’m very excited, but I’m also calm and focused.”

“You must realise that losing control occurs when one becomes very aroused. That is not possible.

“What matters most is that the players continue to perform as they are.

Every week, I witness it. Each and every training session.

Team updates

The Rangers still lack the injured tandem of Nicolas Raskin and Tom Lawrence

in addition to Cantwell, Jack, and Danilo.

Nabil Fekir, a French midfielder for Betis,

will be out for a while due to cruciate ligament damage.

Additionally, Yoss, Marc Bartra, William Carvalho,

and Claudio Bravo will not be present for the hosts.

Select your starting lineup for the Rangers.

Select your starting lineup. How you go about it is up to you;

you can choose the team you THINK the manager would select,

or you can choose the one you WANT him to pick.

 

Which state does Betis belong to?

On the surface, one victory in four games while occupying seventh place in La Liga and already 15 points behind Girona,

the surprise leaders, is not exactly stellar performance.

But the most recent of those encounters ended in a 1-1 home tie with Real Madrid,

who are second right now—a match that manager Manuel Pellegrini believed they ought to have won.

Had they done so, it would have been their sixth straight victory at home.

In fact, they have won all ten of their games played on home soil this season;

Getafe was the last club to defeat them there in May.

Which state is Betis a resident of?

At first glance, winning just one of their previous four games does not exactly sound like a great accomplishment when you’re in seventh place in La Liga and already 15 points behind the unexpected leaders, Girona.

The most recent of those matches, though, came in a 1-1 draw at home against Real Madrid, who are currently in second place;

manager Manuel Pellegrini thought they should have won.

It would have been their sixth consecutive home victory if they had done so.

They have really won every one of their ten home games this season; their only loss came in May against Getafe.

statistic for the match

The last two Europa League matches between Real Betis and Scottish opponents ended in losses (3-2 against Celtic in 2021 and 1-0 against Rangers earlier in the current campaign).

Nonetheless, they did win their lone home game, a 4-3 triumph over Celtic in 2021–2022.

In 13 attempts (10 losses), Rangers have never prevailed in an away game in a major European competition in Spain.

They have lost to eight different teams in that time (Sevilla, Real Madrid, Real Zaragoza, Athletic Club, Valencia, Osasuna, Villarreal and Barcelona).

The last time Real Betis won three straight in a major European competition was between 1998 and 2002 (a run of six).

They have now won their last two home Europa League matches.

Rangers’ current three-match winning streak in the Europa League is their best since a seven-match winning streak in major European competition from October 2021 to March 2022.

Rangers’ Ross McCausland, who made his debut for Northern Ireland earlier that month,

became the youngest player from Northern Ireland (20 years, 202 days) to score in a major European competition since Michael O’Neill (20 years, 118 days) in the 1989 Uefa Cup.

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