Marseille striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is officially the Europa League’s greatest-ever goalscorer – and he could soon have Rangers in his sights.
The Gabonese forward, 34, scored his 31st goal in the UEFA Europa League to take him one above legendary Colombian forward Radamel Falcao in the scoring charts.
The ex-Dortmund, Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona hitman netted a first-half equaliser for Marseille in their Europa League playoff against Shakthar Donetsk.
The French went on to win the clash 3-1 and progress 5-3 on aggregate.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang‘s 31st Europa strike takes him one above Falcao, with Aritz Aduriz (26), Romelu Lukaku (26), and Munnas Dabbur (24) behind him.
Rangers v Marseille a potential Europa League grudge match
Rangers could soon be facing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang if Marseille are to come out of the Round of 16 hat in Switzerland this afternoon.
The Ligue 1 side are one of eight potential participants for Rangers as the Ibrox club eagerly await the outcome of the Europa League draw.
A potential draw against Marseille would also have an extra edge given the events of the inaugural Champions League competition in 1992/93.
Marseille narrowly pipped Rangers in their group to set up a final with AC Milan, which the French side went on to win 1-0 courtesy of a Basile Boli goal.
But the French side were stripped of their Ligue 1 trophy that season and banned from UEFA competition for one year after being found guilty of match-fixing and bribery.
A suspicious 6-0 win over CSKA Moscow in the group stages has always rankled with fans, whilst Mark Hateley claims he was offered cash not to play during the competition.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Alfredo Morelos?
Some Rangers fans will be scratching their heads about the whereabouts of Alfredo Morelos (32 Europa League goals) on this list, with the Colombian regularly attributed as being the competition’s third top scorer.
But the final tally only includes goals which have been scored in the Europa League group stages or knockout rounds, not in the competition’s qualifying.
Alfredo Morelos has 15 goals in the competition’s group stages, less than half that of Aubameyang, who also has 34 in between the official competition and qualifying.
The final list also only includes goals scored in the Europa League and not the competition’s previous incarnation as the UEFA Cup, with Celtic legend Henrik Larsson also on 31 goals in the tournament proper (40 in total).
