Just rewatched the Rangers v Benfica game

SuperGers07 said:
Honestly feel the first two games in the group ensured our qualification. Imagine we held on in these last two games. We’d have romped the group.

All in all, great euro campaign so far. Looking forward to next round
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Buzzing to see who draw next - I don't think anyone will fancy playing us.
 
mdingwall said:
Same again tomorrow evening but not with the tiring in the last ten mins!
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Re the tiring, both teams played the same 90 minutes. I think SG should be more willing to inject fresh legs if needed as the game goes on.

Whilst Liege aren't a bad side, they are a level below Benfica. Managed to do them in Belgium, same again at home.
 
We were excellent for 160 mins over both games against Benfica. Game management was poor at various points in both games, the second goal at Ibrox was stunning football (as was ours). Fully expect us to take care of Liege, we are a fantastic football team when we’re at it.
 
mdingwall said:
A second viewing reinforces my view it was an excellent performance against a higher level team.

Same again tomorrow evening but not with the tiring in the last ten mins!
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That was my view also at the time. We were working so hard to compete with a CL level team. It gives us hope for the future that if we make CL group stages we wont just be whipping boys like those across the city.
 
If we had our usual midfield options on the bench and were able to freshen it up we would probably have held on.

In contrast Benfica brought on sheer quality from the bench in both games that is what got them the draws
 
Jase said:
Re the tiring, both teams played the same 90 minutes. I think SG should be more willing to inject fresh legs if needed as the game goes on.

Whilst Liege aren't a bad side, they are a level below Benfica. Managed to do them in Belgium, same again at home.
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Most of them, if not all, didn't play on the weekend before in the Portugese Cup.
 
mdingwall said:
A second viewing reinforces my view it was an excellent performance against a higher level team.

Same again tomorrow evening but not with the tiring in the last ten mins!
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A few subs may help, that was the only downside on a near perfect night
 
ibroxjohn76 said:
I'm baffult as to why we didn't make any subs to address the tiring legs.
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I was the same until I saw the bench, no Aribo, Zungu, Jack etc.
The only option was maybe Barjonas or Bassey into the MF and Barker or Itten for any of the front 3, but I don't think that would have changed anything.
Hopefully more fit bodies available tomorrow and we'll get the job done.
 
I'm taking all games this season 1 at a time, we turn up tomorrow then we will win.
It would be a remarkable achievement to win the group with a game remaining.
 
I fear people may be underestimating Liege a little. The game in Belgium could easily have gone the other way given the chances they spurned.

It’ll take another top notch performance for the 3pts. They need to win.

Hopefully we don’t get caught thinking a draw is sufficient (although it may be unless Poznan win).
 
mdingwall said:
A second viewing reinforces my view it was an excellent performance against a higher level team.

Same again tomorrow evening but not with the tiring in the last ten mins!
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When players are tiring,that's when to make subs. Learning all the time though.
 
We have progressed every season so far. If we continue to do so and progress again for next seasons european adventure we may start taking the bigger scalps. I never expected our European form to ever be so good.
 
It was an outstanding performance. Shame there was no crowd. Maybe the crowd could have made a difference to tiring legs. Nights like that would have seen limbs everywhere, and the volume turned right up :))
 
SuperGers07 said:
Honestly feel the first two games in the group ensured our qualification. Imagine we held on in these last two games. We’d have romped the group.

All in all, great euro campaign so far. Looking forward to next round
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Compared to last season after 6 group games we had 9 points, this season we are on 8 points after 4 games and still unbeaten very good campaign so far long may it continue.
 
daveyn85 said:
That was my view also at the time. We were working so hard to compete with a CL level team. It gives us hope for the future that if we make CL group stages we wont just be whipping boys like those across the city.
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whipping bhoys who remember were pot 1 for the draw :D

would like to win the group considering it allows us to have control over who we potentially get but I'd take league results over ones in Europe apart from ones that gets us qualified which hopefully will be a win tomorrow night
 
One thing I thought the game highlighted was the difference in the youth systems.

Benfica have a B team who play in the Portuguese league set-up. They were missing some players, but happy to use players who have come through that system in both the cup game in the previous weekend, and on that night.

Without Jack, Zungu and Aribo, we only had Barjonas or Dickson on the bench as sub midfielders, the area that needed the fresh legs most. One of them would have been making his senior debut, and the other has bounced around a few loans which haven't worked out. They weren't deemed ready, which was a justified view.

Sadly, unless Scottish football makes a big change that way, it's something we have to contend with and try to find a way around.
 
Some of the immediate reaction to the results against Benfica were particularly poor. I couldn’t believe what I was listening to on the H&H pod after the game in Lisbon for example - way OTT. Guess that’s the issue with giving an immediate opinion on a match, as with everything things aren’t as bad in the cold light of day.
 
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