2021-22 UEFA Europa League Quarter-Finals: Second Leg – Rangers vs Braga

Rangers welcome Braga to Ibrox in the second leg of their Quarter-Final tie in 2021-22 UEFA Europa League.

Following their 1-0 loss in the first leg, Rangers now simply must win and score at least twice if they’re to stand any chance of advancing to the semi-finals.

Braga meanwhile know that they just need to avoid defeat to secure a place in the last four against the winner of RB Leipzig’s tie against Atalanta.

 

Team News

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Leon Balogun, Glen Kamara and Scott Arfield could all be recalled after being named as unused substitutes in Rangers’ Scottish Premiership win at St Mirren on Sunday.

Filip Helander (knee) and John Lundstram (groin) however are doubts but Alfredo Morelos (thigh), Ianis Hagi (knee) and Nnamdi Ofoborh (illness) remain absent.

Braga remain without Roger Fernandes and Nuno Sequeira as the pair continue to recover from muscle injuries.

 

Stat Attack

• Rangers have won two of three previous meetings against Braga in UEFA Europa League (W2, L1).
• Braga lost their only previous visit to Rangers (L1) – losing 3-2 in February 2020 in the Round of 32.
• Rangers are yet to lose at home to Portuguese opposition in all UEFA competitions this century (W4, D3).
• No player in the Europa League this season has recovered more balls than Rangers’ Connor Goldson, who has recovered 65 balls in 10 appearances.
• Braga’s Ricardo Horta has played more minutes than any other player in the Europa League this season, having managed 999 minutes in total across 11 matches.

 

Prediction

Despite matching Braga in attack in the first leg, Rangers were simply wasteful of their chances with zero shots on target and struggled to handle the opposition’s high press but I expect them to be more prepared this time around especially with home advantage to motivate them.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst though will be pleased with how his players responded at St Mirren with a dominant display, especially in terms of their crosses which is something that they should try and maximise here with pace and awareness to counteract Braga’s high press.

Braga though have the one goal advantage so can either sit deep and park the bus defensively to protect that lead, unless they fancy adding more goals and another scalp so their tactics will be interesting to watch from the start and throughout as the game progresses.

I however feel like Rangers could win this tie if they play like they did on Sunday but they simply can’t afford to concede first.

Prediction: Rangers 2-0 Braga

Result: Rangers 3-1 (AET) Braga (Rangers win 3-2 on aggregate!!!)