In their exciting Europa League last-16 match that finished 2-2 in Lisbon, Philippe Clement maintains that Rangers were dangerously close to pulling off a “miracle” victory over Benfica.
When VAR stepped in to point out that Gers defender John Souttar had used his arm inside the box, Argentina World Cup winner Angel Di Maria tied the score with a penalty in extended time, giving midfielder Tom Lawrence’s team the lead in the seventh minute of the first leg. The match is now neatly set up for next Thursday in Govan after Dujon Sterling scored his first goal of the game to give the visitors a lead again in extra time. However, in the 67th minute, Gers defender Connor Goldson headed into his own goal.
The Light Blues manager acknowledged Benfica’s enormous budget relative to Rangers’ and stated, “We were really close to making this miracle, the first team ever in the Europa League to win here.” It is unfortunate that we should be given a penalty in this manner; the ball falls and John is blind to it, causing it to land on his arm. It’s incredibly unfortunate. We had two chances to make it 3-1 with Fabio Silva and Cyriel Dessers, and we were very near. This game would have been quite different, but I am incredibly happy of my squad.
“With the ball, they demonstrated solidarity, character, and personality, and we scored two excellent goals.” Even though I consider myself to be demanding, I am only able to provide what they did today. They both gave it their best, as did the males who entered. Other players had to fill in for us because we were lacking a lot of players in the offensive position. My happiness with Fabio and Dujon is immense. We must carry on in this manner. It may be a fantastic season if they maintain the mindset they have been displaying over the past several months.
The Belgian manager responded, “It’s just an advantage that it’s at Ibrox,” when asked if Rangers now had the advantage in the match. The squad may benefit greatly from the energy that our fans can provide if they are focused from the very beginning to the very end. However, we continue to be realistic about Benfica’s strengths. It’s true what you folks mentioned this week regarding the disparity in transfer budgets. I believe it would be a huge, huge deal if we could get rid of this squad. All I can ask is that my players perform to the best of their abilities and repeat what they did tonight on Thursday.
“I have said it already a few times that I don’t agree where the game has gone to with handball situations,” Clement continued, calling the penalty “very harsh.” I am aware of the regulations. In the past few weeks, I’ve had increasing difficulties with some circumstances. You can impose this penalty given the current guidelines. But as a football enthusiast, I find those regulations impossible to follow.
“And I believe that every manager and player has the same perspective. Now that a ball that is obviously not supposed to hit your arm gets penalised the instant it touches you, it is too severe. Too many games are decided in this way worldwide.
