Rangers boss relaxed ahead of Porto clash: "The pressure's on them" | OneFootball

The Scottish club, which has Portuguese forward Youssef Chermiti in its squad, is already mathematically eliminated from the European competition – having only four points – but aims to extend its streak of eight consecutive wins across the league and the Europa League.

“In recent weeks, we have shown that we can win many games. We performed very well as a group against very tough opponents. We picked up points in the Europa League,” recalled the German coach, in the preview of Thursday’s match at Estádio do Dragão.

Danny Röhl praised the atmosphere at the Dragão and recalled his previous visit to the stadium in 2017/18, when he was assistant coach at Leipzig under Austrian Ralph Hasenhüttl, in a match the ‘Dragons’ won 3-1.

“We have a big challenge ahead of us, you can feel it as soon as you walk in here. Eight years ago, I was here with Leipzig, I know the stadium. I see the excitement on my players’ faces because they want to play, but for me, it’s important to rotate the squad a bit, since we also have Sunday’s game in mind,” he admitted.

The coach acknowledged the merit of his counterpart Francesco Farioli, highlighting the numbers of the ‘blue and white’ team, which leads the Portuguese league alone with a seven-point advantage over Sporting and ten over Benfica.

“They have also been on a good run. In the last 10 games, they won 9, with many clean sheets. It’s a very organized, well-coached team, and Francesco [Farioli] has done an excellent job so far. Everything is set, we expect a great match,” he said.

In his view, all the pressure will be on the ‘blue and whites’, who in the final round are looking to secure a place among the top eight in the Europa League, which grants direct passage to the round of 16, although they also depend on other results.

“The pressure is on them, because they want direct qualification. They will start with a lot of energy, high pressing, and we have to stay compact and organized, waiting for our moments to achieve something. But for that, we have to be at 100% tomorrow [Thursday],” he emphasized.

In addition to Röhl, Max Aarons, the 26-year-old English right-back and one of Rangers’ key players, also took part in the press conference, expressing his desire to maintain his good form.

“I think it will be a good test for us against a team that is at the top of their league and is experienced and strong. Because, not long ago, we went through tough times in this competition and recently we’ve had good matches and are definitely confident in our current form,” the player concluded.

FC Porto, ninth in the league group with 14 points, will host Rangers, 31st with four, at Estádio do Dragão on Thursday at 20:00, with Belgian referee Jasper Vergoote officiating.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.