Rangers manager Philippe Clement has claimed that Benfica’s superior transfer budget makes them favourites for the Round of 16 Europa League clash.
The Gers are in Lisbon as they prepare to face off against the Portuguese giants and their expensively assembled side for a place in the Europa League Quarter Finals.
But if the Benfica squad are favourites to overcome Rangers in the tie due to their superior financial investment, just how wide is the gap between the two sides?
Here we take a look at both Europa League squads and look at the reported transfer fees paid by both sides, with the results bound to turn a few heads.
It comes after Philippe Clement openly discussed the disparity in transfer fees ahead of the clash.
Will it give Rangers fans a sense of perspective heading into the two-legged tie? Pfft, of course not. We’re still expecting our team leave everything out there in the hunt for progression.
Rangers Europa League squad cost – £34.25m
Rangers have named a 22-man Europa League squad for the club’s run in the competition’s knockout stages, with three changes made from the first half of the campaign.
Whilst teams can register 25 players, a lack of homegrown options in the squad has prevented us from doing so this season. Cue angry tweets about Lewis Ferguson and Lawrence Shankland.
Nontheless, the Rangers squad, whilst substantially less so than Benfica, has seen a decent amount of investment with a total of £34.25m spent assembling this year’s team.
- GK – Jack Butland (free), Robby McCrorie (Academy), Kieran Wright (Academy)
- DEF – James Tavernier (£200k), Ridvan Yilmaz (£5m), John Souttar (free), Connor Goldson (£3.5m), Dujon Sterling (free), Ben Davies (£4m), Borna Barisic (£2.2m)
- MID – John Lundstram (free), Ryan Jack (free), Mohamed Diomande (£4.5m), Nicolas Raskin (£1.7m), Tom Lawrence (free), Todd Cantwell (£1.5m)
- FWD – Scott Wright (£150k), Rabbi Matondo (£2.5m), Abdallah Sima (loan), Fabio Silva (loan), Kemar Roofe (£4.5m), Cyriel Dessers (£4.5m)
Benfica Europa League squad cost – £153.9m
When Philippe Clement spoke about a disparity in finances, be rest-assured that the Rangers manager was not lying.
Benfica operate in a whole other stratosphere than Rangers when it comes to transfer dealings with the Ibrox side’s biggest outlay – the £5m deal signed for Ridvan Yilmaz – dwarfed by Benfica’s (£26m spent on Orkun Kökçü).
Regularly spending over £10m for players, it’s interesting that Benfica’s Europa League squad only has 19 registered names because so many of their side are B list players from the club’s Academy.
You’ll also notice that whilst this squad has been expensively assembled – Benfica outspending Rangers by a whopping £119.65m – it certainly seems a little top heavy.
After being bruised by FC Porto and with manager Roger Schmidt under increasing pressure, does this team frighten you as Rangers fans?
- GK – Anatoliy Trubin (£9.4m), Leo Kokubo (Academy)
- DEF – Alvaro Fernandez (loan), Morato (£6.5m), Alexander Bah (£6.8m), Juan Bernat (loan), Nicolas Otamendi (£12.8m)
- FWD – David Neres (£12.8m), Arthur Cabral (£21.3m), Angel di Maria (free), Casper Tengstedt (£8.3m), Rafa Silva (£13.8m), Benjamin Rollheiser (£7.7m), Marcos Leonardo (£15.7m), Tiago Gouveia (Academy)
