RANGERS begin their Europa League campaign with a trip to Belgium on Thursday night as Steven Gerrard’s side look to get off to a winning start in Group D.
The Gers return to continental competition on the back of their 2-0 Old Firm win that moved them four points clear at the top of the Premiership. Here, we look at how their Europa League rivals fared in their respective domestic competitions at the weekend.
Standard Liege 1-1 Club Brugge
Philippe Montanier’s side left it late to earn a draw with top of the table Club Brugge on Saturday. Krepin Diatta put the visitors ahead just before the break and Maxime Lestienne squandered the chance to equalise on the hour mark as he missed from the penalty spot. Standard were awarded a second penalty in the last minute and Nicolas Gavory converted to deny Brugge victory.
Form: D D W W D
League position: 4th
Jagiellonia Bialystok 2-1 Lech Poznan
The former Ekstraklasa champions suffered a 2-1 defeat to Jagiellonia Bialystok as a late penalty from Jakub Moder proved in vain. Poznan found themselves behind inside two minutes as Taras Romanczuk netted for the hosts and the game was over when Maciej Makuszewski doubled their advantage midway through the second half. While Lech have been in fine form in Europe, they have won just two of their six league outings so far this term.
Form: W W W W L
League position: 8th
Rio Ave 0-3 Benfica
Four wins from four leave Benfica top of the Primeira Liga as they continued their fine form with a 3-0 victory away to Rio Ave on Sunday. Gian-Luca Waldschmidt scored twice in the first half to seal the points before Gabriel netted late on for the visitors.
Form: L W W W W
League position: 1st
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