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Argentinean hard nut Three years after seeing red against Rangers in Lisbon, Nicolas Otamendi says he’s licking his lips at the idea of facing them again in the Europa League.
When the two teams met at the Stadium Light in an exciting 3-3 draw, Benfica defender Otamendi was given a straight red card. The World Cup winner also expressed his excitement at the possibility of more rough and tumble against the Ibrox team on Thursday night as they square off once more for a spot in the quarterfinals.
“I know British football and I know that Rangers will be a very physical game for us – and those are the games I get excited about,” said the former firebrand for Manchester City, Otamendi. We’ve studied them, and they have players who are excellent at attacking football, so it wouldn’t be accurate to simply refer to them as a physical team. They are capable of doing both, so we shall treat them with great respect.
After taking down Ryan Kent during the two teams’ previous competition match in November 2020, Otamendi was dismissed. Steven Gerrard’s team overcame a 1-0 deficit to overtake the dominant Portuguese team after Otamendi was sent off early on.
Darwin Nunez’s last-minute equalizer, however, left the tie hanging in the balance at 3-3, and Rangers finished the job by drawing 2-2 at Ibrox. Otamendi has also cautioned his teammates not to repeat the same error.
“It is important we get off to a strong start against Rangers,” stated the 36-year-old, who is looking to add the Europa League to an amazing medal haul. We are aware of how challenging it is to travel to Glasgow, but we do not believe we cannot go there and have success. We want to start the home game off incredibly well because of this.
Although Sporting Lisbon and Porto have defeated Otamendi’s team twice in a row at home, the Portuguese powerhouses still intend to go all the way to the Europa League Final in Dublin, according to Otamendi. “This year’s final 16 is so strong—winning this competition won’t be easy,” he declared. You see clubs that you are accustomed to seeing in the Champions League knockout stages, such as Roma, Milan, and Liverpool.
Then there is Bayern Leverkusen, whose performance in Germany this year is evident to all of us. Although winning won’t be simple, right now we are only focused on the two games versus the Rangers.
By daniel abwa
