Benfica dossier: Sternest test for Rangers yet but key flaw in Portuguese revealed

Benfica's Uruguayan forward Darwin Nunez could pose the biggest threat to Rangers' hopes of extending their unbeaten start to the season in the Europa League match in Lisbon on Thursday evening.

The Ibrox club, in fact, are unbeaten on their last five trips to Portugal – the two most recent coming under Steven Gerrard’s management last season when they drew 1-1 in Porto and then won 1-0 in Braga during their run to the last 16 of the Europa League.

But Gerrard will be aware that their latest jaunt to the western edge of the Iberian peninsula is perhaps their most challenging yet. The Europa League Group D assignment against Benfica in the Stadium of Light on Thursday certainly poses the biggest threat yet to the 18-match unbeaten run Rangers have put together in all competitions since the 2020-21 season began.

Portugal’s biggest and most successful club go into the contest protecting an impressive undefeated sequence of their own – they have not lost any of their last 24 home games in the Europa League, stretching back a decade, which equals the all-time record set by Zenit St Petersburg.

Jan Vertonghen was brought in by Benfica to shore up the defence.

They are unquestionably formidable opponents, especially on their own patch, but Rangers do have cause for optimism they can carve out another eye-catching result on the road which would further enhance their prospects of reaching the knockout stages of the tournament for a second successive campaign.

Monday night horror show

After winning their first five matches in this season’s Primeira Liga, which did not start until mid-September because of the coronavirus crisis, Benfica hit the buffers on domestic duty in dramatic style on Monday night when they lost 3-0 away to a Boavista side who were previously without a win in the competition.

It was an evening when nothing went right for Benfica from the moment their Brazilian international midfielder Everton, an £18 million summer signing from Gremio, clumsily conceded the 18th minute penalty which former Manchester United youngster Angel Gomes converted to put Boavista ahead.

Benfica boss Jorge Jesus is looking to mastermind a win over Rangers.

Benfica were sluggish and lacking in creativity for most of the contest and could have little complaint about the comprehensive nature of a defeat sealed by further goals from Alberth Elis and Yanis Hamache.

No case for the defence

Following their sale of Portuguese international central defender Ruben Dias to Manchester City for £61.5 million in the summer, Benfica opted for experience as they looked to compensate for the loss of the highly regarded 23-year-old.

They recruited 33-year-old Belgian international Jan Vertonghen following his departure from Tottenham, while £13.5 million of the Dias fee went back to Manchester City in order to sign 32-year-old Argentinian international Nicolas Otamendi.

On paper, it’s a highly impressive centre-back pairing but they did not cover themselves in glory against Boavista and appear vulnerable when confronted by pacy forwards. But the biggest source of encouragement for Rangers might come down the left side of the Benfica defence.

Nuno Tavares, the 20-year-old left-back currently deputising for injured first choice Alex Grimaldo, looked highly suspect for the second and third Boavista goals which both originated from his flank.

Taking the blame

Returning at the start of this season for his second spell as Benfica manager, following a highly successful stint in Brazil at the helm of Flamengo, Jorge Jesus is one of the most respected coaches in world football. Now 66, he won nine major domestic trophies during his first stint at Benfica from 2009 to 2015 and guided them to the Europa League Final twice.

Jesus was quick to accept responsibility for the defeat at Boavista, his second setback of the campaign after the 2-1 loss to PAOK in Greece in the Champions League third qualifying round two months earlier.

“I should have freshened the team up more,” said Jesus who made just two changes to the starting line-up from Benfica’s 3-0 home win against Standard Liege in the Europa League last Thursday. Brazilian right-back Gilberto replaced Diogo Goncalves, while former Spurs and QPR winger Adel Taarabt came in for injured £16 million summer signing Pedrinho.

"We felt the burden of all the challenges we have been fighting for recently but that is part of being a team who want to compete on all fronts,” added Jesus. “We missed more passes than usual, because when the player doesn’t think fast, he isn’t lucid and he feels emotional fatigue, and the the first sign is the failure of passes. It was my mistake because I should have changed the team I played more. I had to change half the players.”

Darwin the principal threat

While it was undeniably an off night for Benfica, their £21.5 million summer recruit Darwin Nunez still managed to show why he could pose the biggest danger to a Rangers defence which has kept 15 clean sheets so far this season.

The 21-year-old Uruguayan international, who has already been linked with a possible move to Barcelona, showed sublime footwork and finishing skills for an effort which was subsequently and correctly ruled out by VAR. Nunez was also unfortunate to see a sweetly struck free-kick fly narrowly off target and Rangers will need to be especially wary of conceding set pieces around the edge of their penalty area.

Nunez scored a hat-trick in Benfica’s 4-2 win over Lech Poznan in Poland on Europa League matchday one in Group D and looks to be forming a dangerous partnership with German international striker Luca Waldschmidt, another of Benfica’s expensive new signings this season.

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