Arthur's Column // 26th April 2022

RIGHT now, everyone at Rangers is buzzing. The Europa League semi-final is on the horizon and we all can't wait.

Giovanni and the players stand 180 minutes away from taking the Football Club to a major Final and that would be an incredible achievement. RB Leipzig stands in our way. They are an extremely talented team and they are doing very well in the Bundesliga just now.

However, over the two legs, they can be defeated.

It's unfortunate to be going into Thursday night's game without Kemar Roofe. I had singled him out recently as the man to step up and fill the void created by Alfredo Morelos. He more than made sure of it with brilliant performances in the home game against Braga and in the Scottish Cup semi win against Celtic. But he is injured and will miss Thursday and the visit to Parkhead at the weekend.

Gio went with Fashion Sakala and Scott Wright in advanced roles in the 3-1 win against Motherwell on Saturday. Both have plenty of skill and pace to burn. They lack big game European experience but they will feel able to do a professional job if called upon.

The other option is to look at putting Ryan Kent through the middle. Sure, his best position is out wide but if Gio feels this is the best way to set up then I'm sure Ryan will be ready for the challenge.

We know that Gio is tactically a good coach and isn't afraid to try something different.

Ryan was brilliant against Borussia Dortmund and will look to repeat that in the next two legs.

He enjoys Bundesliga opposition and let's hope it brings the very best out of him again.

What we also know about this Rangers team is that they have talent all over the pitch. They also have desire and frightening commitment.

They showed it in abundance against Celtic last week and again at the weekend when they were down to 10 men for more than an hour at Fir Park.

The squad is equipped to bring home a good result back to Glasgow. Then, for the second leg, Ibrox will be rocking with 50,000 Gers supporters.

We are so, so close. We just need to stay focused and ready to be clinical in front of goal.

With all of that, and a wee bit of luck, of course, we can be in Seville on May 18th.