Rangers vs RB Leipzig; UEFA Europa League Semi-Final

Full Time After Extra Time This is a live match. Extra Time Half Time

Rangers vs RB Leipzig. UEFA Europa League Semi-Final.

8:00pm, Thursday 5th May 2022.

Ibrox StadiumAttendance49,397.

Rangers 3

J Tavernier (18th minute)
G Kamara (24th minute)
J Lundstram (80th minute)

RB Leipzig 1

C Nkunku (70th minute)

3-2

Latest UEFA Europa League Odds

Watch Live

Aaron Ramsey and Kemar Roofe could return for Rangers' Europa League semi-final against RB Leipzig, says Giovanni van Bronckhorst

Aaron Ramsey and Kemar Roofe have been out with respective knee and hamstring problems since the Scottish Cup semi-final win over Celtic last month; Rangers trail RB Leipzig 1-0 ahead of Thursday's Europa League semi-final second leg at Ibrox

Friday 6 May 2022 00:06, UK

Giovanni van Bronckhorst will give Kemar Roofe and Aaron Ramsey "as long as possible" to prove their fitness for Rangers' Europa League semi-final second leg against RB Leipzig on Thursday night.

The Jamaica striker and on-loan Wales midfielder have been out with respective knee and hamstring problems since the Scottish Cup semi-final win over Celtic at Hampden Park last month.

The Gers were beaten 1-0 by the Bundesliga outfit in Germany last Thursday night and, ahead of the return fixture at Ibrox, Van Bronckhorst said: "It depends how the training will go. When they got injured we all knew that they would work towards the game tomorrow [Thursday].

"Of course I will wait as long as possible, but the most important thing for me is that they are physically able to play a part in tomorrow's game, that is always the deciding factor.

"We still have one day to prepare. Today will be an important day for both. I cannot tell you if they are in the squad for tomorrow or not."

Rangers seek to overturn deficit - Opta stats

Since the formation of the UEFA Europa League in 2009, only four sides (from 17 ties) have managed to overturn a first-leg semi-final defeat to progress to the final, however, each of those occasions followed on from a single-goal loss in the first leg, with Liverpool (v Villareal) the last side to do so in 2015-16.
Rangers are hosting a major UEFA European semi-final for the first time since April 2008, in the UEFA Cup against Fiorentina; they’ve managed to reach the final in four of their previous five semi-final appearances in major UEFA European competition (1961, 1967 & 1972 Cup Winners’ Cup and 2008 UEFA Cup). Coming in to the 2021-22 campaign, only Porto (5/6) and Sevilla (6/6) have a higher progression rate from major UEFA European semi-finals than Rangers (80% - min. 5 ties).
Following on from the first leg being the first ever meeting between Rangers and RB Leipzig, the Scottish side will host their German counterparts for the very first time. They are winless in their last three home games versus German sides however (D1 L2), since beating Werder Bremen in March 2008.
Rangers’ James Tavernier (5) has scored more home goals in this season’s UEFA Europa League than any other player, scoring via a penalty in each of his last three games in the competition at Ibrox. Should he score a penalty goal in this match, he would be the first player to score via this method in four consecutive home matches in the competition.

GVB: Let's make Jimmy Bell proud

Van Bronckhorst has also urged his side to make the late Jimmy Bell proud and reach the Europa League final.

Gers kit man Bell passed away this week at the age of 69, after earning a cult hero status at Ibrox after working at the club for 30 years.

Van Bronckhorst's side trail RB Leipzig 1-0 from the first leg and the Dutchman admitted his players were deeply affected by Bell's passing.

"We were all shocked about the news, it was a hard day for all of us," said Van Bronckhorst. "Everyone was really down.

"Yesterday we didn't do a lot, we were at the training ground, the atmosphere was very down and everyone was in shock. We talked about him [Bell], we shared stories about him.

"It was a a big game already, but now we're really determined to go out tomorrow and make everyone proud and make Jimmy proud.

"We still mourn, we're still down. But I think the character of my players are the best I've seen from any team I've coached. I'm sure the character, belief, determination will be there and we'll do everything to reach the final."

Captain James Tavernier admitted it was a "devastating" time for everyone associated with Bell.

He said: "Yesterday was difficult to take. We all mourned Jimmy and obviously people are still doing it now, but I know Jimmy wouldn't want the fuss.

"He would want us to roll our sleeves up and get stuck in tomorrow. We want to do it for the club, for the fans and for Jimmy."

Nkunku poses major RB threat - Opta stats

RB Leipzig’s only previous encounter away from home in Scotland was a 2-1 defeat to Celtic in the UEFA Champions League group stages in 2018-19, meaning each of the three matches between themselves and Scottish sides have all been won by the home side.
RB Leipzig managed 10 shots during the first leg at home, their fewest since dropping into the UEFA Europa League earlier this season, with Angeliño’s winner the final shot of the match in the 85th minute. Rangers, however, have only managed six shots on target across their last 300 minutes of action in the competition.
RB Leipzig are looking to progress to their very first European final as a club, with this their first ever two-legged semi-final. The German side have however progressed from four of their six other two-legged knockout ties in European competition.
Ten of Christopher Nkunku’s 11 goals for RB Leipzig in major European competition have come this season, leaving only Karim Benzema (14), Robert Lewandowski (13) and Sébastien Haller (11) with more goals across 2021-22 in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League prior to the second leg matches. Indeed, he is currently tied with Timo Werner and Emil Forsberg for the most goals in Leipzig’s short European history (excluding qualifiers).

Only Scot Symon, Willie Waddell and Walter Smith have led Rangers teams to European finals.

Symon took the Gers to the 1961 and 1967 European Cup Winners' Cup finals, Waddell won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1972 and Smith guided the Ibrox outfit to the 2008 UEFA Cup final.

Van Bronckhorst is hoping his Rangers side of 2022 can be added to that list. The former Feyenoord boss said: "I am not thinking of personal goals.

"I am thinking about being successful with the club, that is the most important thing. There have not been many times that a (Rangers) team has played a final in Europe, so hopefully we will be joining a very elite group and that's all that matters.

"We are all here to bring success and trophies to this beautiful club and that is always my main target."