Europa League | League Stage

Oct 24, 2024 at 8pm UK

Ibrox Stadium

Rangers vs FCSB

Match preview

After beating Malmö in Sweden to kick off their latest continental campaign, Rangers were looking forward to their first home fixture, which saw Lyon come to Govan at the start of October.

However, Philippe Clement's team ended up on the losing side of a 4-1 defeat. Alexandre Lacazette and Malick Fofana both scored twice, which quietened the Ibrox crowd.

Rangers have now lost their last three home matches in UEFA competition, including the qualifiers. They've never lost four in a row throughout their long European history.

The Light Blues bounced back by beating St Johnstone a few days later, but when they returned from the international break they stumbled against Kilmarnock. A 1-0 defeat left them six points behind the Scottish Premiership leaders, Aberdeen and Celtic.

That puts more pressure on Clement, who started the season with just one win from four matches and has been struggling to get supporters on side ever since.

Even so, Rangers – who made it to the Europa League final as recently as 2022 – have only lost two of their last 17 home matches in Europe. They've also been unbeaten in three previous Ibrox encounters with FCSB, when the Romanian side were under their former guise as Steaua Bucharest.

The last time the two clubs met was in the 1995 Champions League group stage. They drew 1-1 in Scotland, which left FCSB with a record of two wins and one loss from their last four games against Rangers.

The Ros-Albastrii have had a better run in the Europa League so far, winning both of their games. They started with a 4-1 defeat of Latvian side RFS, then followed that up with a 1-0 victory over PAOK in Greece. Star striker Daniel Birligea found the net on both occasions.

After winning the Romanian SuperLiga title for the first time since 2015, FCSB started their continental campaign in the first round of Champions League qualifying. They then had to go through a playoff to secure their spot in the Europa League after falling out of UEFA's top club competition.

The capital club have had a tough start to their domestic title defence this term, sitting sixth after 12 rounds. However, Cypriot coach Elias Charalambous saw his side beat Dinamo Bucharest in a derby clash last week, when Birligea scored again.

That means FCSB have been unbeaten in nine games across all competitions, with seven wins to show for it. They've also scored at least once in each match.

Recent Performance

Rangers Europa League form:WL

Rangers form (all competitions):WWWLWL

FCSB Europa League form:DWWW

FCSB form (all competitions):DWWWWW

Team News

Just to flag up that Oscar Cortes, Rabbi Matondo and Ridvan Yilmaz are still out with injuries. On a more positive note, Tom Lawrence has returned from a hamstring problem at the weekend, while Ianis Hagi is now available after serving a suspension.

It's not clear yet whether Ross McCausland will be fit to play. He missed Northern Ireland's recent UEFA Nations League matches and Saturday's Scottish Premiership defeat to Kilmarnock. Brazilian striker Danilo is still short of fitness following a series of injuries.

It looks like Cyriel Dessers will be leading the line again up front, with Hamza Igamane on the bench.

In other news, FCSB's top goal scorers in the Europa League are captain Darius Olaru and Daniel Birligea, who have both found the back of the net twice, including in the qualifying rounds. However, Romania midfielder Olaru will be suspended this week after being sent off against PAOK.

Adrian Sut has been given compassionate leave following the death of his father, so he might not be in the line-up for the derby versus Dinamo.

Possible starting lineups

Rangers possible starting lineup:

Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Propper, Jefte; Diomande, Barron; Cerny, Lawrence, Bajrami; Dessers

FCSB possible starting lineup:

Tarnovanu; Pantea, Chiriches, Dawa, Radunovic; Edjouma, Alhassan; Stefanescu, Phelipe, Miculescu; Birligea