*****The Official Rangers v SL Benfica Thread*****

[Drumloyal 15,145]

13 minutes ago, rocester said:

It was you bum boying Ridyan's erchie. He was rank rotten tonight. Admit it.

[westenclosure2008 798]

11 minutes ago, The Archer said:

And I stand by it ,thought his substitutions were way too late. Diamonde was fucked and got caught out a few times,he must have seen that the same as we did. How many times did we all go up in the box and then had to burn a ton of energy getting back to stop them scoring. We didnt learn the first few times it happened.

I think he would’ve made changes sooner but he clearly doesn’t rate or trust Raskin to come on. Other players were just back from injury. The game was decided in one moment so I think it’s really harsh to blame anybody for tonight. We lost to a good side tonight but it could’ve went either way.

[Ivybank 4,636]

Clement was right about Diomande for the goal runs away from the scorer for some reason stays with him and he’s got him , first time he’s actually singled out anybody re a mistake 

[ianb1547 3,767]

TBH we dint really look like we were going to win tonight. Still proud of what we have done. We move on.

[superallysbears 7,846]

Thought we played within ourselves tonight, too many players just off the level needed and the referee was a total wanker.

[Iakona 2,273]

Despite our current state… the fact we are disappointed at getting eliminated after a narrow defeat to a team like Benfica is a testament to Clement and his staff.

As a fan base we have been thumping our chests recently… but it’s important to remember how far we have come in a very short time with him. Many had our season as done and dusted several months ago..

The players didn’t let us down… the fact we are running on empty shows our players are giving it their all. Sadly right now we are injury ravaged and relying on players we all know aren’t good enough to be at our club. They aren’t intentionally trying to harm our club… It’s just an unfortunate situation we find ourselves in due to prior mismanagement.

If this is a sign of what clement can achieve with players who lack quality and or confidence… then the rest of Scottish football should be absolutely shiting themselves for when he gets a proper opportunity to make his mark on the squad. The futures bright…

[BuffaloUSAGers 1,297]

7 minutes ago, Ivybank said:

Clement was right about Diomande for the goal runs away from the scorer for some reason stays with him and he’s got him , first time he’s actually singled out anybody re a mistake 

Diomonde needs a full training camp for Phil to knock the poor habits out of him.

[King Jela 20,662]

46 minutes ago, The Archer said:

And I stand by it ,thought his substitutions were way too late. Diamonde was fucked and got caught out a few times,he must have seen that the same as we did. How many times did we all go up in the box and then had to burn a ton of energy getting back to stop them scoring. We didnt learn the first few times it happened.

Agree with all of that. 

Thought the big man got the subs wrong myself. The midfield 3 were absolutely gassed and you could see it in the first half. 

He asked a lot of the players tonight with the tactics at the corners too. Like you say, they burned even more energy getting back to stop them scoring. 

I won't get angry at the big man, or even blame him (or blame anybody for that matter). 

Proud of the boys for another excellent European campaign. 

 

[TamCoopz 19,605]

2 minutes ago, King Jela said:

Agree with all of that. 

Thought the big man got the subs wrong myself. The midfield 3 were absolutely gassed and you could see it in the first half. 

He asked a lot of the players tonight with the tactics at the corners too. Like you say, they burned even more energy getting back to stop them scoring. 

I won't get angry at the big man, or even blame him (or blame anybody for that matter). 

Proud of the boys for another excellent European campaign. 

 

Silver lining is now we’ll get decent rest in between league/Scottish cup games. Been looking absolutely done in at points the last few games 

[King Jela 20,662]

4 minutes ago, TamCoopz said:

Silver lining is now we’ll get decent rest in between league/Scottish cup games. Been looking absolutely done in at points the last few games 

Agreed. Thought a good few looked done in the first half alone tbh. 

Empty the tank against Dundee and hopefully the players enjoy the break. 

[JackAlex93 11,608]

Thought we looked absolutely spent in the second half fitness wise. If we can get 3 points on Sunday then I'll be delighted to go in to the international break still top of the league and still be on for a treble

[Colin Traive 23,226]

Phil ran out of miracles.

Good number of that squad are either sub-standard or dead on their feet or both.

Fully fit Cantwell plus Cortes, Sterling, Sima and Danilo and we win that game.

Phil has wrung every last drop out of Dessers, a sad excuse for a forward. He must have no part in our team next season, same as Barisic, Davies, Jack, Dowell, Matondo, Hagi, McCausland (harsh but he’s never going to make it if we’re being brutally honest) and Wright.

In the meantime, get them rested as much as possible between now and the end of the international break and let’s get ourselves a treble.

Its the best way to finance the overhaul we need.

[docspiderman 1,260]

Deflated after this result and performance. There is not much between the teams but the difference was mainly pace, control fitness and goal threat. So many loose passes and poor decisions added to complete lack of a goal threat and players running on empty. 
Once again Dessers showed nothing apart from confirming he has no clue about the offside rule. His weird decision to cut onto his left foot but shoot with his right almost made me choke.

Lawrence showed this level is out of his experience and comfort zone with so many losses of possession and being caught on the ball. Ridvan and Silva were disappointing.

We had more possession but never looked like scoring while Benicia looked dangerous on the break because we gave them so much space to do so.

Without a goal threat in the front line and a midfield which has a poor oval retur rate we are constantly punching above our weight and results like tonight and Motherwell are going to happen. We cannot keep having to rely on a full back to scrape through games.

[AGM_72 3,729]

I think we were a bit spooked by Benfica allowing us to have the ball more. Seemed a bit uncertain at time, too many passes going behind players. Composure really deserted us in the final third, looked quite disjointed.

Ultimately, we've been knocked out by the finest of margins, with a depleted squad. I think the fact I genuinely felt pretty confident that we'd win that match, despite the depleted squad, is a testament to the work done over the last 5-6 years in Europe and the work Clement has done. 

Full focus on the treble now. 

[GA1972 9,839]

35 minutes ago, AGM_72 said:

I think we were a bit spooked by Benfica allowing us to have the ball more. Seemed a bit uncertain at time, too many passes going behind players. Composure really deserted us in the final third, looked quite disjointed.

Ultimately, we've been knocked out by the finest of margins, with a depleted squad. I think the fact I genuinely felt pretty confident that we'd win that match, despite the depleted squad, is a testament to the work done over the last 5-6 years in Europe and the work Clement has done. 

Full focus on the treble now. 

Said this earlier, I think it was intelligent of Benfica to not go toe to toe with us and essentially played our own game against us by allowing us a lot of the ball, sitting back and not giving us much to shout about then taking their moments when they came. We looked pretty devoid of ideas and I think a lot of that was down to the game being totally different to what we expected 

[.Williamson. 83,786]

Benfica fans in the airport trying to stick their stickers on the Rangers store and I got up and kept ripping them down

[Fear no foe 2,331]

Disappointed, but not devastated. 

Could've maybe should've got into the next round but no shame in going out to a team like Benfica. Truth be told our injury list and the ghost of Michael Beale ment we simply didn't have it in us to fight on three fronts. 

3 points at the weekend then regroup and get ready for the run in.

[wully 48,127]

1 hour ago, .Williamson. said:

Benfica fans in the airport trying to stick their stickers on the Rangers store and I got up and kept ripping them down

Great.

[.Williamson. 83,786]

6 minutes ago, wully said:

Great.

Thanks mate

[16BlueSherbert90 19,285]

9 hours ago, Iakona said:

Despite our current state… the fact we are disappointed at getting eliminated after a narrow defeat to a team like Benfica is a testament to Clement and his staff.

As a fan base we have been thumping our chests recently… but it’s important to remember how far we have come in a very short time with him. Many had our season as done and dusted several months ago..

The players didn’t let us down… the fact we are running on empty shows our players are giving it their all. Sadly right now we are injury ravaged and relying on players we all know aren’t good enough to be at our club. They aren’t intentionally trying to harm our club… It’s just an unfortunate situation we find ourselves in due to prior mismanagement.

If this is a sign of what clement can achieve with players who lack quality and or confidence… then the rest of Scottish football should be absolutely shiting themselves for when he gets a proper opportunity to make his mark on the squad. The futures bright…

Great post 👍🏻

[Imodium 412]

Just not clinical enough with our chances. Thought Wright was really brave at times and drove us forward on a couple of occasions. Bar the poor goal we lost, defence done brilliantly really stood up. 

[Zappa6995 3,686]

8 hours ago, docspiderman said:

Deflated after this result and performance. There is not much between the teams but the difference was mainly pace, control fitness and goal threat. So many loose passes and poor decisions added to complete lack of a goal threat and players running on empty. 
Once again Dessers showed nothing apart from confirming he has no clue about the offside rule. His weird decision to cut onto his left foot but shoot with his right almost made me choke.

Lawrence showed this level is out of his experience and comfort zone with so many losses of possession and being caught on the ball. Ridvan and Silva were disappointing.

We had more possession but never looked like scoring while Benicia looked dangerous on the break because we gave them so much space to do so.

Without a goal threat in the front line and a midfield which has a poor oval retur rate we are constantly punching above our weight and results like tonight and Motherwell are going to happen. We cannot keep having to rely on a full back to scrape through games.

Bang On, if I could like it twice I would.

[beararse 6,472]

We can point to suicidal defending, injuries, nativity and quality of the opposition for losing that game last night but ultimately the game hinged on poor referring in the first leg.

It was never a penalty and that decision driven by VAR officials is galling. 

It would be easier to accept the call had it been made in real time and without the aid of multiple slow mo replays but it so obviously came off Souttar head before striking his arm.

Credit where it’s due tho, I thought the ref last night was fantastic.

Refreshing to see a referee who let the game flow.  

 

[beararse 6,472]

7 hours ago, GA1972 said:

Said this earlier, I think it was intelligent of Benfica to not go toe to toe with us and essentially played our own game against us by allowing us a lot of the ball, sitting back and not giving us much to shout about then taking their moments when they came. We looked pretty devoid of ideas and I think a lot of that was down to the game being totally different to what we expected 

This

I also think the Benfica players blindsided us by NOT diving, play acting, trying to get players booked and time wasting. 
In the main, they played the game in the correct spirit which was the polar opposite of the away leg where they dived like fuck and looked to pressure the ref at every turn.

A combination of their tactics and unexpected game management left us unsure how best to handle things and caught us off guard which is ultimately down to the quality of squad. Better players can adapt at the higher level.

We simply struggled all evening.

 

[theiconicman 3,012]

9 hours ago, Colin Traive said:

Phil ran out of miracles.

Good number of that squad are either sub-standard or dead on their feet or both.

Fully fit Cantwell plus Cortes, Sterling, Sima and Danilo and we win that game.

Phil has wrung every last drop out of Dessers, a sad excuse for a forward. He must have no part in our team next season, same as Barisic, Davies, Jack, Dowell, Matondo, Hagi, McCausland (harsh but he’s never going to make it if we’re being brutally honest) and Wright.

In the meantime, get them rested as much as possible between now and the end of the international break and let’s get ourselves a treble.

Its the best way to finance the overhaul we need.

 Out of that list I'd still keep McCausland, he is already an SPFL level player and he may surprise us with how quickly he develops, even if he doesn't progress, he's young, cheap and a very good squad player for rotation and teams in the SPFL.