Braga warmed up for the visit of Rangers with a 3-1 win over Vitoria Setubal in the Primeira Liga on Sunday night.
The Gers will bring a 3-2 aggregate lead to Portugal for the second leg of their Europa League Round of 32 tie on Wednesday.
Ruben Amorim’s side’s confidence doesn’t appear to have been dented by their defeat at Ibrox, though.
The manager made multiple changes for their home clash against 12th placed Setubal, naming the likes of Paulinho, Fransergio and Francisco Trincao on the bench and despite a late scare, they still proved too strong.
After a goalless first half, Ricardo Horta broke the deadlock with a fine goal just after the hour mark. Picked out on the edge of the area by overlapping full-back Galeno, the 25-year-old stroked a fine finish into the bottom right corner.
It was then 2-0 around ten minutes later, when centre-back Bruno Wilson powered in a header from a corner.
Nabil Ghilas made the final stages interesting by netting an 89th-minute goal for the visitors, but after Setubal’s ‘keeper came up for a corner in injury time, substitute, Trincao, raced away to make things safe at 3-1.
The win sees Braga remain third in the table, one point ahead of Sporting Lisbon and ensures their strong home form continues right up until the visit of the Gers.
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