Rangers vs RB Leipzig Preview

RB Leipzig will look to book their place in the Europa League final this Thursday when they travel to Glasgow to play Rangers in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final tie.

The hosts welcome their German counterparts to Scotland looking to overturn a one-goal deficit from the first leg thanks to a 1-0 loss in the first leg.

But to secure their first European final appearance since 2008, they have much work to do.

They come into this tie on the back of a 1-1 draw with fierce rivals Celtic and, as a result, are almost out of the title reckoning in Scotland.

Rangers have enjoyed some good results in Europe this season and have beaten German opponents Borussia Dortmund on their way to this semi-final. Their last opponent in this competition was Braga, who they defeated on aggregate after a one-goal deficit in the first leg.

And so they will come into this tie confident of overturning another one-goal deficit. They do have a solid home record in Europe to back up that claim as they have lost only five of their last 33 home matches (W21, D7) in Europe while netting 2+ goals in each of their last five games at Ibrox in this competition (W4, D1) and that will also serve as a confidence booster for them.

RB Leipzig meanwhile will look to hold on to their lead as they attempt to book their first-ever European final in their brief history.

The visitors are currently one of the best teams left in the competition and are making a solid case for themselves.

But their recent domestic form is casting some doubts on their capabilities ahead of this second leg. Domenico Tedesco’s men have lost their last two Bundesliga games, leaving their hopes of a top-four finish lying in the hands of Freiburg who replaced them in fourth last Monday.

And so, the only guaranteed route to the UCL next season will be through winning this tournament and given that they have lost just one of their last nine away games, they will fancy their chances of getting the desired result in this fixture.