Philippe Clement had his hands tied heading into Rangers second leg tie with Benfica but was still proud of his players efforts.
Short of options in midfield and in the forward line, the Gers boss had to wait until later in the game to make changes with his squad still miles away from full fitness.
Speaking to TNT after the game, Philippe Clement was able to take the positives out of Rangers two games against Benfica.
Philippe Clement proud of Rangers players’ efforts
Pride seemed to be the overriding feeling coming out of Ibrox, both from the players and the manager.
Yes, we fell short on the night but Benfica couldn’t have argued if we had gone through given our performances over the two legs.
A sentiment shared by Philippe Clement as he gave his verdict on Rangers exit:
“I think we need to be proud, and every fan of Rangers needs to be proud.
“The reality, budgets of squads, we are rebuilding a squad, everybody is going full, everybody can see that.
“Everybody who was in the stadium and watched the game.
“So, all the players on the pitch from Rangers doing their ultimate best, we’ve seen also everybody growing the last couple of months and we need to continue doing that.”
Clement is right, this team is growing, and growing with half of the team missing.
Importantly, the entire front three and our best number ten.
No team can play to their full potential in this sort of situation.
It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact.
But what is encouraging is the improvements that Clement has brought in such a short period with so many injuries.
After the heavy Champions League play-off defeat to PSV Eindhoven or the loss to Aris Limassol, did anyone really expect us to be able to match a team like Benfica just a few months later?
In a finely balanced tie, you need luck to be on your side, we didn’t get the breaks but we certainly can’t fault the players’ efforts or the manager’s positivity.
Our time will come.
