Before the final 16 Europa League matchup with Benfica, Philippe Clement could have done without so many injured Rangers players.
The manager of the Gators won’t be concerned only about his team taking more hits, though, but he has a concern about one player in particular for the doubleheader.
James Tavernier could be suspended after receiving one more yellow card, which would mean Philippe Clement would be without his lucky charm for such a crucial match.
James Tavernier is balancing his suspension for the Rangers.
The captain has an amazing record in the Europa League.
With 20 goals in all European competitions, he is only one goal behind Ally McCoist, the great.
McCoist played European football in straight knockout forms for the majority of his career, although he still had a solid few years after the Champions League moved to a group stage in 1992–1993.
Tavernier scored seven goals during the 2022 journey to the Europa League final, finishing as the competition’s leading scorer and earning a spot in the squad of the year.
If he had taken home the winner’s medal, the competition’s top player would have followed suit.
Philippe Clement won’t want to be without his key man as Rangers try to maintain their outstanding Europa League record, as he has 21 goals and 10 assists this season.
However, according to UEFA rules, Rangers would need to advance to the semifinals before one of his cards is taken away after two bookings in the group stages.
According to UEFA, by that point, players cannot miss the championship game owing to yellow cards:
“Unusually, the number of yellow cards a player receives that do not result in a repeated caution suspension is reduced by one after the completion of every two rounds in a UEFA club competition (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and/or UEFA Europa Conference League), in which a player was registered on a club’s list and eligible to play.”
Furthermore, all yellow cards run out at the end of the quarterfinals. They do not advance to the round of sixteen.
Other than Connor Goldson, who is already suspended, no other Rangers player is balancing a comparable tightrope. However, Goldson only needs two cards to miss a game.
If Abdallah Sima can get back to full health and the Rangers are still in the running, he’ll be in the same situation as Tavernier.
Philippe Clement will want to prevent any more Rangers players from sitting in the stands until he begins to get players back.
James Tavernier should be behaving appropriately.
Read more news at https://sportupdates.co.uk
Leave a Reply