Rangers handed major Europa League boost as RB Leipzig lose three key men for semi-final first leg

Rangers hopes of reaching the Europa League final have been handed a boost with semi-final opponents RB Leipzig set to be missing three key players for the first leg in Germany.

The Bundesliga side reached the last four courtesy of an impressive 2-0 away win over Atalanta which secured a 3-1 aggregate success over the Serie A outfit.

However, the victory came at a cost with three first-team stars all picking up yellow cards which rule them out of the opening match against Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men at the Red Bull Arena on April 28.

Midfielder Kevin Kampl, and defenders Willi Orban and Mohamed Simakan are all suspended for that match, which is a significant blow to the Germans given all three are regulars in their starting XI, as they were in Italy on Thursday evening.

Kevin Kampl is one of three RB Leipzig players who are suspended for the Europa League semi-final first leg against Rangers. (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)

But even without them Leipzig will still have a strong star-studded line-up for the first leg including Portugal forward Andre Silva, and main playmakers Christopher Nkuku and Dani Olmo.

Nkuku is an established French international and is the third top scorer in the Bundesliga this season with 17 goals - one more than Erling Haaland - while Olmo has 20 caps and four goals for Spain.

Leipzig currently sit fourth in the Bundesliga but are the form side in Germany having lost just once this year - to league leaders Bayern Munich - while they thumped Borussia Dortmund 4-1 at the Westfalenstadion.

The new Europa League favourites will be an extremely tough opponent for Rangers, who themselves are without their talisman and top scorer Alfredo Morelos, although Kemar Roofe led the line superbly in the 3-1 win over Braga.

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