While getting ready for the Europa League match against Benfica, Philippe Clement disclosed that directors at Rangers had previously urged he put more emphasis on domestic football than his dreams of playing in Europe.
Amidst a packed fixture schedule, the Ibrox side landed in Lisbon on Thursday for the first leg of their last-16 match. After replacing Michael Beale in October, Clement had to defeat Real Betis in their last Europa League group match in Spain in December in order to go to the Viaplay Cup final at Hampden Park versus Aberdeen. The Gers defeated the Dons 1-0 to win the season’s first trophy and defeated Real Betis 3-2 to advance to the Europa League knockout stages.
Rangers leads Celtic by two points in the Premiership, and they will face Hibernian in the Scottish Cup quarterfinal on Sunday. However, Clement maintains that European competition is not a sideshow.
“No,” he replied. When some people were on the board prior to our European match in December, I stated that winning the League Cup might be more significant. No, surprisingly, as it was done with the best of intentions. Everyone in the club wanted to emphasize how hungry they were to win a trophy once more.
However, they were also really delighted following our night in Spain, and they were even happier after winning the League Cup. I told them that’s not how I work at all. I want guys that want to win every time, who are eager for every opportunity.
That isn’t how it operates. It’s not like picking up a menu at a restaurant. You can’t build a winning culture that way.
It’s a busy schedule, that much is sure. However, it is our responsibility to work closely with the players and staff to prepare them, and it is also the players’ responsibility to demonstrate that they are prepared for that level of competition. For this game, the following weekend, and the remainder of the season, we will be full.
Wingers Abdallah Sima, Rabbi Matondo, Scott Wright, and Oscar Cortes all out due to injury (albeit the latter is not included in the Rangers European squad). Ross McCausland is also doubtful after being substituted due to a knock during the weekend’s 2-1 loss to Motherwell.
The former Monaco manager, nevertheless, is adamant that he won’t be “parking the bus.”
He declared, “We will be missing four wingers tomorrow.” “We’ll see, maybe Ross as well. He trained individually today instead of with the team; he only completed the warm-up. We’ll check tomorrow to see if he’s available to play a few minutes.
“All four of the wingers are out.” Perhaps five of my wingers will be out of the picture. It’s not a good scenario. Kieran Dowell and Todd Cantwell are two playmakers we miss, while Danilo is a striker. We will therefore be missing a great deal of offensive quality tomorrow. It’s about figuring out alternative fixes.
It’s a test, and as a coach, you have to decide whether to continue using the same approach or to make changes. I needed to discuss that with my employees. What steps should I take against a team like Benfica in this particular situation? How to engage in gameplay.
“I have never parked the bus and just defended; I don’t believe in it. We always attacked to win games, whether we were playing in Leipzig with Club Brugge or Madrid or Paris versus PSG with weaker clubs.
“I don’t think you should do the complete opposite for one game if you have a culture of that, and I am working on it every day to create chances to score goals.” The instant a goal is scored against you, your players lose all mental faculties.
As a result, we will always strive to generate opportunities, just as we did when we successfully assaulted and defended Spain. It will therefore be the same here. We must play excellent defense and demonstrate many other attributes while doing so.
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