November 6, 2024

Rangers ‘determined’ to succeed against Leipzig for late kit man Jimmy Bell

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Jimmy Bell with Roy Makaay Jimmy Bell, left, served Rangers for 30 years and was a popular figure at the club Venue: Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow Date: Thursday, 5 May Kick-off: 20:00 BST Coverage: Updates on BBC Radio Scotland DAB/810MW and BBC Sport website & app

Rangers are “determined” to make Jimmy Bell proud when they face RB Leipzig in Thursday’s Europa League semi-final decider, says Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

The club’s kitman, who had worked at Ibrox for more than 30 years, died suddenly earlier this week.

Van Bronckhorst’s side trail 1-0 from the first leg in Germany and the manager is unsure whether Kemar Roofe and Aaron Ramsey will be fit.

“We were all very shocked about the news of Jimmy,” said the Dutchman.

“It was a hard day for all of us. We are still in shock, we talked about him and shared our personal stories about Jimmy. It was a really big game already, but we are even more determined now to make Jimmy proud.

“We still mourn and are down but the character, belief and determination of my players are there and we will do everything to reach the final.

“The fans will always be important for us at home, they are a big factor. It will be a noisy night. It will be emotional and we will be ready when the whistle goes.”

Team news

Van Bronckhorst said midfielder Ramsey and forward Roofe will be given “as long as possible” to prove their fitness after missing the past three games.

Ianis Hagi and Alfredo Morelos are definitely out for the hosts.

Leizpig defenders Willi Orban and Mohamed Simakan as well as midfielder Kevin Kampl are available after missing the first leg through suspension.

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What they said

Rangers captain James Tavernier: “I know Jimmy wouldn’t want the fuss, he would want us to roll our socks up and get stuck in. Everyone will be ready to go from the first whistle.

“It personally means a lot to me in a European semi-final, it has been some journey. We have always wanted to improve every year from the board to the players. It would be an unbelievable achievement if we could reach the final.”

What did we learn from the first leg?

In a tight game, Leipzig had the best openings and missed at least one gilt-edged chance before eventually netting near the end.

Until Angelino’s excellent 85th-minute volley, Van Bronckhorst’s side had the right tactical set-up – restricting the German side’s space and time on the ball.

It was at the other end that Rangers struggled at times, with the absence of their injured central strikers particularly noticeable in the first half. They improved after the break and had one or two moments in the Leipzig box.

Leipzig arrive in Glasgow after suffering a second successive Bundesliga defeat, going down 3-1 at Borussia Monchengladbach on Monday to sit a point outside the top four.

Match stats

  • Following on from the first leg being the first ever meeting between Rangers and RB Leipzig, the Scottish side will host their German counterparts for the very first time. They are winless in their last three home games versus German sides however (D1 L2), since beating Werder Bremen in March 2008.
  • RB Leipzig’s only previous encounter away from home in Scotland was a 2-1 defeat to Celtic in the UEFA Champions League group stages in 2018-19, meaning each of the three matches between themselves and Scottish sides have all been won by the home side.
  • Since the formation of the UEFA Europa League in 2009, only four sides (from 17 ties) have managed to overturn a first-leg semi-final defeat to progress to the final, however, each of those occasions followed on from a single-goal loss in the first leg, with Liverpool (v Villareal) the last side to do so in 2015-16.
  • RB Leipzig managed 10 shots during the first leg at home, their fewest since dropping into the UEFA Europa League earlier this season, with Angeliño’s winner the final shot of the match in the 85th minute. Rangers, however, have only managed six shots on target across their last 300 minutes of action in the competition.
  • Rangers are hosting a major UEFA European semi-final for the first time since April 2008, in the UEFA Cup against Fiorentina; they’ve managed to reach the final in four of their previous five semi-final appearances in major UEFA European competition (1961, 1967 & 1972 Cup Winners’ Cup and 2008 UEFA Cup). Coming in to the 2021-22 campaign, only Porto (5/6) and Sevilla (6/6) have a higher progression rate from major UEFA European semi-finals than Rangers (80% – min. 5 ties).
  • RB Leipzig are looking to progress to their very first European final as a club, with this their first ever two-legged semi-final. The German side have however progressed from four of their six other two-legged knockout ties in European competition.
  • Rangers’ James Tavernier (5) has scored more home goals in this season’s UEFA Europa League than any other player, scoring via a penalty in each of his last three games in the competition at Ibrox. Should he score a penalty goal in this match, he would be the first player to score via this method in four consecutive home matches in the competition.
  • Ten of Christopher Nkunku’s 11 goals for RB Leipzig in major European competition have come this season, leaving only Karim Benzema (14), Robert Lewandowski (13) and Sébastien Haller (11) with more goals across 2021-22 in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League prior to the second leg matches. Indeed, he is currently tied with Timo Werner and Emil Forsberg for the most goals in Leipzig’s short European history (excluding qualifiers).
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