Bayer Leverkusen and Rangers FC compete on Thursday evening for a ticket to the quarterfinals of the Europa League. The Scots will have to rise above themselves in the BayArena, because the first leg in March was won by Leverkusen 1-3.
Bayer Leverkusen:
Bayer Leverkusen did excellent business in March, winning 1-3 in Glasgow. In one of the last European games that was still played in a full stadium, Die Werkself delivered a great game. The Peter Bosz team was technically the better of the two teams. Without really impressing, Leverkusen had the game in Glasgow largely under control, and managed to score three times (1-3). The evening was not perfect, because Mitchell Weiser and Kerem Demirbay were shown a yellow card and have been suspended for this return match.
It has been some time since Leverkusen played its last official game. On July 4, the German cup final lost 2-4 to Bayern Munich. After that game, the players got a short vacation, after which the training sessions were resumed. “I don’t know if it’s an advantage that we had a few days of vacation while other teams played on,” Bosz said at Tuesday’s press conference. “We don’t know that until after the tournament.” Bosz has to make a line-up without Nadiem Amiri. The midfielder has been in contact with a person who tested positive for corona. The tests for Amiri were negative, but as a precaution he is in home quarantine.
Rangers:
For Rangers FC, the first game ended in disappointment. The team of trainer Steven Gerrard did try, but against high-quality Leverkusen willpower alone was not enough to achieve a good result. Only shortly after the 1-2, by George Edmundson, did Rangers make it difficult for the Germans. After the defeat, Rangers played no games for a long time. The month of July was dominated by friendly duels, in which The Gers also achieved good results – for what it’s worth.
The 2019/2020 season in Scotland was not completed. A new vintage was started last weekend. The Glasgow club managed to win its opening game. A visit to Aberdeen FC was enough to hit Ryan Kent for a 0-1 win. In recent weeks, there has been some interest from major clubs for striker Alfredo Morelos, but the Colombian is still under contract with Rangers FC. If the Rangers want to stunt on Wednesday, a top performance from Morelos would come in handy. At least he knows what it is like to score in the Europa League. Including the qualifying matches, the South American has already scored fourteen times in Europe.
PREDICTION: Bayer Leverkusen to win @ 1,62
