| Venue: Estadio Benito Villamarin, Seville Date: Thursday, 14 December Kick-off: 20:00 GMT |
| Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland Extra, live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app |
Philippe Clement says his depleted Rangers side have “nothing to lose” in their Europa League decider at Real Betis.
Rangers are without Todd Cantwell because of “personal circumstances”, Ryan Jack has failed a fitness test, and Danilo will miss several months with a knee injury.
Rangers must equal Sparta Prague’s result against Aris Limassol to reach the knockout stages, otherwise they will drop into the Europa Conference League.
Betis are unbeaten at home in all competitions this season, and although Clement believes it will be Rangers’ biggest test since he took charge, he says they are going to Spain looking to win.
“How many home games did they lose this season?” he said. “It is not simple. Otherwise teams would have done it. Good teams like Real Madrid. We have a lot of respect for them but we come here with ambition.
“It’s an interesting game. It’s a game where Rangers have nothing to lose. We are in Europe next year. But we want to make the next step again in the group.
“I have given them some challenges over the last couple of weeks and almost every time the team passed it. But now this may be the biggest one until now.
“It’s going to be a really big test, but I feel something special in the group.”
With the Viaplay Cup final looming against Aberdeen on Sunday, this week is pivotal in shaping the Ibrox side’s season.
“I’m very excited but I’m also calm and also focused,” Clement added. “You need to see when you get too excited you lose all control. That cannot happen.
“The most important thing is the players keep on doing what they are doing. I see it every week. Every training [session].”
Team news
As well as missing Cantwell, Jack and Danilo, Rangers remain without injured duo Nicolas Raskin and Tom Lawrence.
Betis’ French midfielder Nabil Fekir is on the sidelines for a lengthy period with a cruciate ligament injury.
The hosts will also be without Claudio Bravo, Marc Bartra, William Carvalho and Yossouf Sabably.
Choose your starting XI. It’s up to you how to approach it – you could go for the team you WANT the manager to pick or the one you THINK he will.
