Rangers Europa League rivals Standard Liege have been rocked by the news that six of their players have tested positive for Covid-19.
The Belgian side entered Group D alongside Benfica, Rangers and Lech Poznan as second seeds and are yet to put any points on the board ahead of their match with the Polish outfit.
All six players have now been ruled out of the match as Standard head out to Poland this morning.
“The results of the latest Covid-19 tests unfortunately indicate that 6 Red players are positive: Collins Fai, Konstantinos Laifis, Damjan Pavlovic, Eden Shamir, Moussa Sissako and Abdoul Fessal Tapsoba,” reads a Standard statement.
“These players will therefore not be part of the Standard de Liège delegation which will fly to Poland on Wednesday morning.”
The news comes after three players tested positive for the virus ahead of the club’s clash with Rangers in October.
Michel-Ange Balikwisha, Nicolas Raskin, Moussa Sissako and goalkeeper coach Jan Van Steenberghe all tested positive prior to Rangers’ 2-0 win in Belgium.
Standard were also rocked by an injury to highly-rated 21-year-old Belgian international centre-back Zinho Vanheusden ahead of the match.
The former Inter Milan academy youth landed awkwardly inside his own box as he competed for the ball in Standard’s 1-0 win over Oostende at the weekend.
Meanwhile, Rangers are preparing to face Benfica in a table-topping clash in Group D with both sides starting their Europa League campaigns with two victories apiece.
