Before the final 16 Europa League matchup with Benfica, Philippe Clement could have done without so many injured Rangers players. The manager of the Green Bay Packers will be concerned about more knocks to his team, but he will also be concerned about one player in particular heading into the doubleheader.
James Tavernier could miss this crucial game for Rangers since he has one more yellow card to serve, which would force Philippe Clement to play without the team’s lucky charm.
With 20 goals in all European competitions, he is only one goal behind Ally McCoist, the great.
McCoist played European football in straight knockout forms for the majority of his career, although he still had a solid few years after the Champions League moved to a group stage in 1992–1993.
Tavernier scored seven goals during the 2022 journey to the Europa League final, finishing as the competition’s leading scorer and earning a spot in the squad of the year.
Philippe Clement won’t want to be without his key man as Rangers try to maintain their outstanding Europa League record, as he has 21 goals and 10 assists this season.
However, according to UEFA rules, Rangers would need to advance to the semifinals before one of his cards is taken away after two bookings in the group stages.
According to UEFA, by that point, players cannot miss the championship game owing to yellow cards:
“Unusually, the number of yellow cards a player receives that do not result in a repeated caution suspension is reduced by one after the completion of every two rounds in a UEFA club competition (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and/or UEFA Europa Conference League), in which a player was registered on a club’s list and eligible to play.”
Furthermore, all yellow cards run out at the end of the quarterfinals. They do not advance to the round of sixteen.
Other than Connor Goldson, who is already suspended, no other Rangers player is treading carefully; nonetheless, he only needs two cards to miss a game.
Abdallah Sima is in the same situation as Tavernier if he is able to get back into shape and the Rangers are still in the running.
Philippe Clement will want to prevent any more Rangers players from sitting in the stands until he begins to get players back.
James Tavernier should be behaving well, hopefully.
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