What next for Rangers? Kemar Roofe battle, away goals comfort blanket, Aaron Ramsey getting close - but fevered support can only do so much

Rangers have already had cause to welcome UEFA’s decision to scrap the away goals rule in their club competitions this season.

Rangers hope to welcome Kemar Roofe back from injury for Thursday night's Europa League semi-final, second leg against RB Leipzig at Ibrox. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

As they bid to complete what would be a remarkable journey to the Europa League final, they can hope that change to the regulations might work in their favour again against RB Leipzig at Ibrox on Thursday night.

Just as in the quarter-finals against Braga, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s squad must overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit in front of their home fans.

Under the previous method of deciding ties which finish level on aggregate, David Carmo’s 83rd minute header for Braga at Ibrox – which evened it up at 2-2 – would have been enough to take the Portuguese club through on the principle of away goals counting double.

Calvin Bassey, pictured challenging Dani Olmo, defended superbly for Rangers in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final against RB Leipzig in Germany. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

Instead, of course, Rangers grabbed the third and decisive goal in extra-time.

There is every chance that the Scottish champions will find themselves having to score at least two goals again if they are to overcome a Leipzig side who simply do not fire blanks in European matches.

The Bundesliga outfit have scored in all of their 11 games in the Champions League and Europa League this season.

Ominously for Rangers, Leipzig are especially prolific on the road where they have grabbed 15 of the 24 goals they have scored so far.

French international Christopher Nkunku has scored 10 goals in Europe for RB Leipzig this season - seven of them away from home. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

In the Champions League group stage, their counter-attacking skills saw them contribute impressively in losing 6-3 and 3-2 respectively away to the heavyweight duo of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.

They then crushed Brugge 5-0 in Belgium to secure third place in the group and passage to the knockout phase of the Europa League where their outstanding away form has continued.

After drawing the home legs of their ties against Real Sociedad and Atalanta, Leipzig finished off those respective assignments with 3-1 and 2-0 wins respectively in Spain and Italy.

All told, it means you would expect to get pretty long odds on Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor and his defence keeping a clean sheet on Thursday.

Christopher Nkunku may have endured an off night last week when the French international was well marshalled by a robust Rangers defence and guilty of missing one simple chance when he did break free of the shackles imposed on him by Connor Goldson and Calvin Bassey.

But Nkunku will be regarded as the dangerman again at Ibrox with the 24-year-old having scored seven of his 10 European goals this season in away fixtures, including a hat-trick against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last September.

Minimising the attacking threat posed by Leipzig will be testing enough for Rangers who must do so while also having to test the mettle of the visitors’ backline which was rarely troubled in the first leg.

Much of that was down to the largely containing tactics van Bronckhorst deployed in the absence of a recognised central striker.

On a night when the Rangers manager will anticipate the Ibrox crowd raising the rafters, the key to a successful game plan on the pitch is likely to be the return from injury of Kemar Roofe.

Sidelined since damaging a knee in the Scottish Cup semi-final victory over Celtic at Hampden on April 17, the Jamaican international has been fast-tracking his recovery with the use of a hyperbaric chamber.

Roofe showed in the second leg win over Braga – and also in that success against Celtic – that he has the physical attributes, tactical awareness and ability to hold the ball up required to be the effective focal point of an attack against high quality opposition.

While van Bronckhorst has consistently displayed great resourcefulness in coping with an absentee list which also includes Alfredo Morelos and Ianis Hagi, it cannot be overstated how much of a boost Roofe’s availability would be to his preparations for the biggest night of his coaching career yet.

It would allow him to restore Joe Aribo to his most effective position in midfield, while Fashion Sakala could be used in either a wider attacking role or as an impact player from the subs’ bench.

The greater creativity and progressiveness Rangers will need in the second leg might also be enhanced by the return of Juventus loanee Aaron Ramsey. The Welsh playmaker has also been missing since pulling up with a hamstring strain in the semi-final against Celtic.

Although Ramsey’s contribution hasn’t been as significant as Rangers would have hoped when they secured his high profile arrival on transfer deadline day in January, the 31-year-old clearly has the pedigree to make his mark on the big occasion.

Ramsey scored both goals against Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi when Wales defeated Hungary 2-0 to clinch qualification for the Euro 2020 finals and could enhance Rangers’ efforts to find a way beyond the German side’s skipper.

With just five defeats in their last 33 European home games, Rangers are entitled to believe the Ibrox factor can play its part in helping them secure a final showdown with either Eintracht Frankfurt or West Ham United in Seville on May 18.

But having the backing of a fevered home support can only take you so far – Rangers’ eliminations in the knockout stage of the Europa League in the previous two seasons saw the damage done at Ibrox where Bayer Leverkusen and Slavia Prague both claimed last 16 victories.

Van Bronckhorst’s team have already conjured up some thrillingly accomplished performances in Europe since the turn of the year. On Thursday, they are likely to require the best yet.