Benfica flex £120m depth to recharge batteries ahead of Rangers Europa League trip

Rangers’ Europa League rivals Benfica got back to winning ways after a three-game run without a victory threatened to derail their season.

The Portuguese giants had been defeated by Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese Cup before being humbled 5-0 by FC Porto heading into the eventual 2-2 draw with Rangers.

But bouncing back against Estoril Praia in a routine 3-1 victory, Benfica made five changes from the Europa League clash with Rangers during the week.

This is in stark contrast to the situation with Rangers, who put out the exact same starting XI in the eventual 2-0 Scottish Cup victory over Hibs.

Benfica back to winning ways
In a major show of squad depth from Benfica – whose Europa League squad cost £120m more than Rangers’ did to assemble – the club’s second string produced in Portugal.

Nicolas Otamendi, Joao Neves, Rafa Silva, Angel di Maria, and Arthur Cabral all came out of the Benfica side with one eye on their trip to Rangers on Thursday.

Orkun Kokcu – who cost Benfica £26m when he signed from Feyenoord – opened the scoring in the match before Estoril equalised through Rodrigo Gomes.

Marcos Leonardo – the Brazilian striker for whom Alfredo Morelos was supposed to replace at Santos – then put Benfica 2-1 up in first half injury time.

Four minutes into the second period Tiago Gouveia secured the points and eased the pressure on German manager Roger Schmidt.

Rangers to welcome Benfica in Europa League
With the weekend’s matches now concluded, all eyes are on Ibrox this Thursday evening as Rangers welcome Benfica in the Europa League.

The tie is finely poised at 2-2 and Rangers will be hoping the power of Ibrox – even at an earlier 5:45pm kick off time – will be enough to see them through the tie.

With Benfica having rested some of their key players, albeit Joao Neves and Arthur Cabral came off the bench, the Portuguese will be coming to Ibrox with the intention of overcoming Rangers.

Both sides have proven they can score in the tie and we’re in for a cracker in Glasgow this coming Thursday.