Rangers have jetted off to Greece as they look to leave their troubles on home soil behind them with a big win on the road.
Philippe Clement has been feeling the heat from the Light Blues faithful after defeat last midweek at Aberdeen left his side trailing Jimmy Thelin and his troops and rivals Celtic by nine points at the Scottish Premiership summit. The Ibrox men then landed loud boos at half-time at Hampden as they trailed by a goal to Motherwell in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final. However, goals from Cyriel Dessers and Nedim Bajrami turned the game on its head and landed the Belgian and his side a vital result as they set up a date with Celtic back at the national stadium next month.
Focus now turns to the Europa League and Clement knows victory would leave his side in a strong position to qualify. They’ve defeated Malmo and Steaua Bucharest and lost out to Lyon so far leaving them on six points from nine – like the Greek giants. It promises to be a real fiery encounter and Record Sport’s top team have delivered their verdicts on how they see the game going.
Andy Newport
Rangers are short of confidence and form but their Greek opponents are going through a transition phase too having overhauled a team that won the Europa Conference League last season. It should be a tight affair but the red-hot Athens atmosphere should give Olympiacos the edge.
Olympiacos 1 Rangers 0
Keith Jackson
Rangers have been struggling horribly on the road in their own backyard never mind in a European hotbed like Athens. Their result and performance in Malmo now feels like an outlier rather than evidence that they might conjure another big Europa League win on foreign soil. It could be a long and difficult night.
Olympiacos 3 Rangers 1
Gavin Berry
The Greeks are on a solid if not spectacular recent run of form and the same points tally as the Light Blues in the Europa League phase. They are also undefeated at home but performances have been patchy enough that Philippe Clement’s men could – providing they can find the kind of level they did in Malmo – take a point.
Olympiacos 1 Rangers 1
Fraser Wilson
It won’t be pretty, which will come as no surprise to Gers fans, but an extremely useful point can be plundered from Piraeus if Philippe Clement’s players dig in. Despite their domestic troubles Rangers have produced their best football on Thursday nights and the Conference League champions haven’t quite set the heather on fire themselves.
Olympiacos 1 Rangers 1
Graeme Young
Sunday’s Hampden comeback could reignite Rangers, of course, but their domestic form, or lack thereof in this case, has never been a barometer of what to expect in Europe. Clement, like his predecessors, has shown a knack to land results on their travels. It likely won’t be pretty but Rangers should be able to ask enough questions of a team suffering their own identity crisis.
Olympiacos 1 Rangers 2