Rangers have been given a timely Europa League boost with the news that several Villarreal stars have stayed in Spain.
A vital Europa League clash at Ibrox tonight sees Rangers desperate for three crucial points. A win for the La Liga side would see them qualify for the last 32. A win for Rangers and they’ll have one foot in the next round too.
The two sides met back in September when Rangers held the Yellow Submarine to a 2-2 draw. Steven Gerrard’s men twice fought back from a goal down at El Madrigal, surprising the Spaniards with their competitive nature.
Despite that performance, however, Villarreal are still leaving several stars back home.
Two of the players who started the match in Spain – Victor Ruiz and Miguelon – are both back home as they are being rested. Ruiz is an experienced centre-back who’s made 12 appearances this term. Right-back Miguelon has made only seven outings for the Spaniards.
Four out for Villarreal
Miguel Layun and attacker Raba are also sitting at home despite neither carrying any particular injury. That means four players in total haven’t made the journey to Glasgow for Villarreal.
Unfortunately for Rangers, however, both Carlos Bacca and Santi Cazorla have traveled and are expected to start. The pair had fine individual games against the Gers back in September.
Bacca opened the scoring and proceeded to have a plethora of big opportunities throughout the contest. It will be interesting to see how Gareth McAuley fares against him should he start, particularly given how Connor Goldson and Joe Worrall failed to marshal in him Spain.
Cazorla, meanwhile, was terrific at El Marigal. He zipped the ball around with confidence and was key in everything good about their forward play.
In terms of Rangers’ injury news, both Borna Barisic and Ryan Kent have failed to recover on time. They therefore join Lee Wallace, Graham Dorrans, and Jamie Murphy on the sidelines. Jordan Rossiter is fit, but is ineligible after failing to make Rangers’ Europa League squad.
