‘Pack your bags, Rangers fans. You’re off to Seville!’ Those are the words no supporter from the blue half of Glasgow would have expected to hear when their side’s 2021-22 Europa League campaign got underway — especially with a visit to Ibrox from Ligue 1 outfit Lyon back in September — a game which ended in a 2-0 defeat.
But Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men have fought in the face adversity and upset the football betting online markets time and again this season. The reward for all their hard work? A place in the Europa League final at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium. Now. just Eintracht Frankfurt stand in the way of them and redemption for their 2008 defeat at the hands of Zenit St. Petersburg.
It’s a truly amazing story. One that starts almost a decade ago, as pretty much nine years to day of beating RB Leipzig 3-1 at Ibrox to book their place in Sevilla, Rangers lifted the Third Division title after being banished to the bottom of the Scottish football pyramid by their fellow SFL clubs.
To come back from that and be in the final of Europe’s secondary club competition for the second time in 14 years is no mean feat. It would mean the world to the passionate Rangers fans, who continued to fill Ibrox even when in the lower leagues, if their side can manage to lift the Europa League title on May 18th.
So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at three players who could make all the difference and help swing things Rangers’ way in the final.
James Tavernier
There’s no better place to start than with the ‘Gers’ captain, James Tavernier. The 30-year-old arrived from Wigan Athletic in 2015 as part of Mark Warburton’s rebuild in the Scottish Championship and he has come such a long way in his seven years with the club.
The right back has been integral to Rangers’ run to the final, racking up seven goals, including braces against both Borussia Dortmund and Braga, and an assist in the knockout stages. That looks set to be enough to see him win the competition’s golden boot.
Posing such a danger down the right-hand side of the pitch and in and around the penalty area, Frankfurt’s night will be easier if they can keep Tavernier quiet.
Ryan Kent
Another nightmare for defenders, Ryan Kent has thrived down the left flank in the knockout stages of this year’s Europa League — using his pace and trickery to ease past the opposition and create dangerous opportunities, like finding Tavernier at the back post.
The 25-year-old didn’t have much of an impact in the group stages, picking up just one assist in his four appearances. But like his captain, and the rest of his teammates for that matter, he has really come to life in the knockouts.
The former Liverpool man set up goals against Dortmund (home and away), Red Star Belgrade and Leipzig, while even chipping in with a crucial strike of his own against the Serbians.
John Lundstram
When John Lundstram was sent off against Alashkert in the Europa League qualifying round, enduring somewhat of a slow start to life at Rangers making the move from Sheffield United, not many fans would have thought that it would be his name belted out around Ibrox after scoring the goal that sent them to the final.
But the reality is that Lundstram has really settled into life at Rangers now and he is a key part of van Bronckhorst’s midfield, forming a deep-lying partnership with Ryan Jack.
The duo make the Gers a more favorable side in the football betting tips, but with Jack’s fitness often tested to the limits, it is the ‘silky scouser’ who the Rangers fans will be relying on to win the midfield battle in Seville.
