EUROPA League
Nigeria’s trio looking to make history in Europa League as Rangers confront Eintracht Frankfurt
Rangers stand on the brink of glory in the Europa League, and five Africans are looking to create history with the Scottish giants.
Defenders Calvin Bassey and Leon Balogun and forwards Joe Aribo, Amad Diallo and Fashion Sakala could all be involved in Wednesday’s final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Rangers saw off former European champions Borussia Dortmund and Red Star Belgrade in the knockout stages before overcoming RB Leipzig in the last four to set up a date with destiny.
Can either of the three Nigerians, the Ivorian or the Zambian be the man to end Rangers’ 50-year wait for a European trophy when they meet German side Eintracht in Seville?
Here, former Rangers and Scotland forward Steven Thompson assesses the impact the quintet have had on the Glasgow club’s bid for glory in Europe’s second-tier continental club competition.
Bassey maturing and finding consistency
Defender Bassey has started 12 of 16 games in the Europa League, either at left-back or centre-back. The 22-year-old, who is in his second season at Ibrox, made his Nigeria debut in March.
“This season, he’s made himself one of Rangers’ best players,” Thompson, 43, told BBC Sport Africa.
“His performances have been incredibly consistent. He has proven his versatility as well, playing some times at left-back and other times at centre-half where I actually think he looks more comfortable with his power, his pace, his composure on the ball and his strength.
“He has been such, such a big player this season, I’ve been so impressed. He’s matured so much I think he would probably be a lot of supporters’ pick for player of the season.
“The big issue for me is I think he’s been that good that I think there will be clubs undoubtedly looking at him because of his versatility, his athleticism and how consistent he has been.”
Balogun ‘never lets side down’
Centre-back Balogun has been a dependable defender since his move north from Wigan in 2020.
The 33-year-old has scored twice in the run to the final – in the group-stage win over Brondby and last-16 tie against Red Star Belgrade – but has found himself on the bench in recent knockout matches.
“Balogun has been in and out of the team this season, but he’s never ever let Rangers down,” Thompson said.
“More recently, we’ve been seeing Bassey in at centre-half and Borna Barisic at left-back now he’s rediscovered his form, so I’m not sure if Balogun will start the final.
“I would say it’d be more likely to be Connor Goldson and Bassey who are the centre-halves with Barisic left-back – but Balogun has had a very good season and has played over 30 games.”
Dynamic Aribo a fans’ favourite
Aribo joined Rangers from Charlton in 2019 and has become a key player, only missing one of their European outings in 2021-22.
“He started the season incredibly well and he’s a big fans’ favourite,” Thompson said of the 25-year-old Nigerian.
“He’s very good on the ball; creative, strong, dynamic. He’s put in some huge performances in Europe and been asked to play a number of positions.
“He’s been almost an ever-present in that Rangers midfield. He is such a threat and has had big moments in the Europa League run.
“There’s no doubt that he contributes a lot to the side. I do think he needs to up his numbers in terms of goals and assists.”
Sakala an ‘unpredictable’ forward
Zambian striker Sakala is still settling in Scotland following his switch from Belgian side KV Oostende at the end of last season.
He has chipped in with nine league goals – including a hat-trick at Motherwell and an equaliser in this month’s Old Firm derby at Celtic – but the 25-year-old has mostly been used as a substitute in Europe.
However, injuries to Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe have seen him rise up the pecking order.
“Sakala still splits opinion a bit,” Thompson said.
“He is very, very raw, has got incredible pace, and is very, very direct. The big question mark is sometimes the final thing he does – but that comes with playing more games and gaining more experience.
“He’s very off the cuff. He’s got an unpredictability about him, and he can prove to be a dangerous player.
“If he doesn’t start against Frankfurt, then I’m sure that he will come on in the game and he can have a big impact, because of the attributes that he possesses.”
As for Diallo, the 19-year-old has not been used in Europe since joining on loan from Manchester United in January.
Thompson says the Ivory Coast international, who has scored two goals in his past three games, has shown “flashes” of his talent.
A chance to become ‘immortals’
In the club’s first European final since 2008, when Rangers were beaten by Zenit St Petersburg in the Uefa Cup final, Bassey and company are looking to emulate the side which lifted the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1971-72.
A win over Eintracht offers the added bonus of direct entry into next season’s Champions League group stage – something Rangers last achieved in 2010.
“This team has an opportunity to immortalise themselves in Rangers history,” Thompson said.
“It’s not very often Scottish teams reach European finals, and it’s been a long time since a team’s won one [Aberdeen in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983].
“So it’s just such an incredibly huge game for the club and for the players. They would never have dreamt that they would be in this position at the start of this campaign but they’ve grown with confidence.
“There’s a real togetherness about this Rangers team. If they were to do it, that’s them with an indelible link in the history of the club.”
-BBC
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim defended under-fire goalkeeper Andre Onana following the Cameroonian’s costly mistakes in his side’s 2-2 draw at Olympique Lyonnais in their Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday.
Onana allowed Thiago Almada’s free kick to squirm past him in the Groupama Stadium and was also at fault for Rayan Cherki’s last-gasp equaliser that denied United victory.
Since the start of last season, no Premier League club’s goalkeeper has made more errors leading to goals being conceded in all competitions than Onana.
“It can happen, if you play football, you play a lot of games, you can make mistakes,” Amorim said. “If you look at the season, I make more mistakes than them during these last games and these last months.
“The other thing is we have one more game to change everything and that should be our focus.
“The best thing is to look at the goals, all the actions that Andre had in the game, this is the best way to help any player, it’s to focus on the game, what happened, what we need to improve.”
United nonetheless remain unbeaten in this season’s Europa League — the only side to do so this term — after goals from Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee put them on course for a potential victory.
The team, who are 13th in the English Premier League standings, still go into next week’s second leg in Manchester as favourites to book a spot in the last four.
“It was an entertaining game,” Amorim added. “We had some difficulty in the first half trying to press, because Lyon played in a different way. Then, in the middle of the first half and especially the second, we controlled the game.
“The second leg will be a different game. At home, our fans want us to press all the time.”
-Reuters
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Manchester United will be without defender Harry Maguire and midfielder Manuel Ugarte for Thursday’s Europa League last-16 clash with Real Sociedad, coach Ruben Amorim said, as he seeks to salvage an otherwise dire season.
The pair were left out of an already depleted squad after picking up injuries in last weekend’s penalty shootout defeat to Fulham that dumped them out of the FA Cup to compound the misery of lying 14th in the Premier League.
“We are being careful with them because at the moment we cannot afford to lose any more players for a long time,” Amorim told a press conference on Wednesday before the Europa League first leg game in Spain.
“We are taking care of them at Carrington (training ground) and they cannot play this game because it will be a greater risk.”
The coach, who joined United in November, stressed the importance of balancing youth development with the needs of the squad during a worsening injury crisis.
“I’m trying to cope with everything. When I do my squad, I’m trying to think about every aspect, of the formation of the (new) kids, of the squad and not if it will look really well with the fans and the media,” Amorim said.
Altay Bayindir, Tom Heaton, Jonny Evans, Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw and Mason Mount remain on individual rehabilitation programmes.
Lisandro Martinez, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament, and Amad Diallo, who suffered an ankle ligament injury in training, are also sidelined.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes scored a last-gasp winner to secure a 2-1 victory over Rangers in the Europa League group stage on Thursday and Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min struck twice in his team’s 3-2 win at Hoffenheim.
United climbed to fourth in the standings on 15 points going into the last round of matches, in a strong position to reach the knockout phase along with Spurs who are sixth with 14 points.
The English side broke the deadlock early in the second half when Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland misjudged a Christian Eriksen corner, sending the ball into his own net.
Rangers fought back with an equaliser from substitute Cyril Dessers two minutes from time before Fernandes struck in added time to give United all three points.
In Germany, James Maddison opened the scoring for Spurs in the third minute and Son doubled the lead in a first half the visitors dominated.
Hoffenheim pulled one back in the 68th minute through Anton Stach’s counter-attack goal. Son restored Spurs’ two-goal lead in the 77th minute before the hosts’ David Mokwa scored to give his side late hope but the game ended in a narrow win for the English side.
Lazio stayed top of the standings with a commanding 3-1 home victory over Real Sociedad to become the first team to qualify for the round of 16.
Mario Gila struck after five minutes and when Sociedad’s Aihen Munoz was shown a second yellow card on the half-hour mark, Lazio immediately seized the advantage.
Mattia Zaccagni quickly doubled the lead and Taty Castellanos effectively ended the match with a third for the hosts. Ander Barrenetxea scored a late consolation goal for Sociedad.
Eintracht Frankfurt moved closer to securing a top-eight spot with a 2-0 home win over Hungarian side Ferencvaros thanks to second-half goals from Can Uzun and Hugo Ekitike. They are second in the standings with 16 points, three ahead of ninth-placed Galatasaray.
A late goal from Troy Parrott gave AZ Alkmaar a 1-0 home win over AS Roma and Olympiacos earned a 1-0 victory at Porto thanks to a late goal from Ayoub El Kaabi.
Dutch side Alkmaar can still reach the top eight with 11 points sitting in 14th place while Roma’s nine points place them 21st, close to the bottom of the playoff section.
Fenerbahce and Olympique Lyonnais played out an intense goalless draw in Istanbul, leaving the French side in a strong position to progress to fifth place in the group on 14 points.
-Reuters
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