Europa League/Europa Conference League preview: Rangers, West Ham, Leicester City ties in balance | Football News

April 13, 2022 admin

Team news, stats and how to follow the Europa League and Europa Conference League quarter-final second legs on Thursday night.

European action resumes on Thursday evening for West Ham, Rangers and Leicester City, with the trio bidding for a place in the semi-finals of their respective competitions.

The Hammers’ Europa League meeting with Lyon is nicely poised after the first leg finished 1-1 in East London, while Rangers must overturn a 1-0 deficit against Braga having reached the quarter-finals of a major European competition for the first time since 2007-08.

Leicester visit PSV Eindhoven for a place in the final four of the Europa Conference League after the first leg ended in a stalemate at the King Power Stadium, while AS Roma, Marseille and Feyenoord all remain in the hunt.

Kick-Off 8pm: Lyon vs West Ham (agg 1-1)

Team news: To follow…

Opta stats

Lyon and West Ham met for the first time in Europe last time out. It was only the sixth time that Lyon have drawn away from home in the first leg of a European knockout tie, progressing in three of the previous five instances, most recently against Chornomorets Odesa in this competition in 2013-14.
West Ham failed to win the first leg of a major European knockout tie when playing at home for the fourth time; they were eliminated in each of the previous three instances – 1965-66 vs Borussia Dortmund, 1980-81 vs Dinamo Tbilisi and 2006-07 vs Palermo.
Lyon (P9 W6 D3 L0) are one of two sides yet to lose in the UEFA Europa League this season having come through the group stages, along with Eintracht Frankfurt. It’s the third time they’ve gone nine games without defeat in a single season in major European competition (2013-14 Europa League, 2005-06 Champions League), never going 10 such games without a loss.
West Ham have lost each of their last three knockout stage away games in major European competition, failing to score in all three matches: 1999-2000 vs FCSB (UEFA Cup), 2006-07 vs Palermo (UEFA Cup), and in the last round against Sevilla.
Lyon have only failed to score in one of their last 28 matches in the UEFA Europa League, with that game coming away to Atalanta in the group stages in 2017-18. They haven’t failed to score at home in the competition since a quarter-final match against Juventus in 2013-14.

How to follow on Sky Sports: Follow Lyon vs West Ham with our dedicated live blog.

Kick-Off 8pm: Rangers vs Braga (add 0-1)

Team news: Rangers defender Filip Helander has been ruled out for the rest of the season after picking up an injury in the 4-0 win over St Mirren last weekend. The Sweden international was left on crutches after limping out of the match in Paisley.

There was better news on John Lundstram though, who also went off injured against St Mirren, with the midfielder expected to be fit to face Braga in the Europa League quarter-final second leg at Ibrox on Thursday night.

Both Calvin Bassey and Ryan Jack are available.

Van Bronckhorst confident of overcoming deficit

Rangers boss Giovanni Van Bronckhorst is looking for a big performance from his side to get past Braga and into the semi-finals, where they will face either Atalanta or RB Leipzig, who drew 1-1 in their first-leg clash.

“We knew it was a very good opponent. We had a result which we can overcome tomorrow,” said Van Bronckhorst.

“When you play an opponent you have a better view of the team and players individually. We have prepared well for tomorrow again.

“It is a big game which needs a big performance from everyone, but I am confident we can have a good result.

“Obviously the first game is different from the second game.

“We know what the task is, we know which areas we can improve, so for us it is just making sure we are playing the way we can, at our top, because you need it at this stage in Europe of course. We will be ready for tomorrow.”

View from Portugal: Ibrox won’t intimidate Braga

Carlos Carvalhal believes Ibrox will inspire rather than intimidate his Braga side in Thursday night’s Europa League clash with Rangers.

Carvalhal has a side sprinkled with youngsters including 19-year-old Brazilian defender Yan Couto, on loan from Manchester City, and 18-year-old attacker Rodrigo Gomes, while defenders David Carmo and Fabiano, another Brazilian, are both 22, as is Spanish striker Abel Ruiz, who scored in the first leg.

Preparing to play in front of a packed Ibrox, Carvalhal has increasing faith in his players’ character. The former Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea boss said: “These boys are growing since the beginning of the season.

“Most of them have 15/20 games, they have more experience. Some of them are in the youth team at national level, they have this type of profile but we will have personality.

“I am absolutely sure we will play with personality and we will play without any kind of fear. We know it will be difficult, we are sure about that. But afraid, no. We will turn the environment, try to make it positive to us, for motivation.

“We understand these kind of games are not a threat but an opportunity. This is an opportunity and we don’t have too many opportunities to play this kind of game. During the season we have two or three games like that.

“Since I have arrived in Braga, we have won in Benfica’s stadium, Sporting’s stadium and Porto’s stadium, we are talking about 60,000 fans or 50,000 fans and we won there. So it is something that we like.

“If Glasgow Rangers create more chances on Thursday, we can also create more chances in a game like that. Everything is open, 50/50, let’s see.”

Opta stats

The first leg was the third meeting between these two sides in Europe, and the first time Rangers were defeated by Braga, having won the previous two meetings in 2019-20. It was the ninth time that Rangers have been defeated in the first leg of a knockout tie in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, advancing in two of the previous three such instances (vs Marítimo in 2004-05 and Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2006-07).
Braga have progressed from their previous nine ties in the UEFA Cup/Europa League when winning the first leg, with eight of those previous nine wins coming in home matches. Indeed, Braga have played more two-legged major UEFA European knockout ties without being eliminated after winning the first leg than any other team in history (10 – 9 in the UEFA Cup/Europa and one in the Cup Winners’ Cup).
In the first leg, Rangers failed to direct a single shot on target in a major European game for the first time since November 2009, against Stuttgart in the Champions League.
Braga (0.53) and Rangers (0.54) combined for a total expected goals figure of only 1.07 in the first leg, the joint-lowest total in any UEFA Europa League match this season along with Monaco vs PSV in November.
Rangers midfielder Aaron Ramsey has scored six goals in 12 starts in the UEFA Europa League, all for Arsenal between 2018 and 2019. His last home start in the competition saw him net the opener against Napoli in the quarter-finals in 2018-19.

How to follow on Sky Sports: Follow Rangers vs Braga with our dedicated live blog.

Other Europa League quarter-final fixtures

Europa League semi-final draw

RB Leipzig or Atalanta vs Braga or Rangers

West Ham or Lyon vs Eintracht Frankfurt or Barcelona

Europa Conference League

Kick-Off 5.45pm: PSV Eindhoven vs Leicester City (agg 0-0)

Team news: Jamie Vardy remains out for Leicester ahead of their Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg at PSV.

The striker is still battling a knee problem but boss Brendan Rodgers has no fresh injury concerns with the tie poised at 0-0.

Jonny Evans should return after being rested for the 2-1 Premier League win over Crystal Palace but Danny Ward, Ryan Bertrand and Wilfred Ndidi (all knee problems) are out while Nampalys Mendy is ineligible.

Schmeichel urges Leicester to continue defying odds

Kasper Schmeichel has urged Leicester to keep upsetting the odds ahead of their Europa Conference League quarter-final with PSV.

The goalkeeper said: “We probably aren’t the biggest, flashiest club about but we have consistently been able to mix it with the big boys and have done a good job of it so far.

“As a club we have grown incredibly. We are sitting in the best training ground in the country, we have been in European competitions, we have won trophies and we are constantly trying to fight on all fronts.”

Rodgers said: “We are a club unlike PSV, who have qualified for 48 European competitions on the trot which shows you the history they have. We are the complete opposite to that.

“This is a great opportunity for us. We are ready to grasp it. The first leg gives us great motivation we can do that and we will fight and do everything we can to get to the semi-final.”

How to follow on Sky Sports: Follow PSV vs Leicester with our dedicated live blog.

Other Europa Conference League quarter-final fixtures