Gabby Agbonlahor says Rangers could win Europa League, Ally McCoist reacts live on talkSPORT
Rangers stand a chance of winning the Europa League, according to ex-Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men are getting ready to welcome Braga to Ibrox tonight (14 April) for the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final.
Rangers lost 1-0 in the first leg in Portugal but have beaten Sparta Prague, Borussia Dortmund and Red Star Belgrade to get to this point.
And with just eight teams left, Agbonlahor feels there could be a shock on the cards for the Gers to win the entire competition.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Ibrox legend Ally McCoist agrees they’ve got a chance if they can get past Braga tonight.
As shown on talkSPORT’s Twitter account, Agbonlahor said: “I’ll be disappointed if [West Ham] don’t win tonight – and Rangers as well.
“If you look at who’s left – Atalanta, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Lyon, Braga, Rangers – West Ham or Rangers could win it. They could actually win it.”
McCoist then interrupted Agbonlahor to say: “Well if you get to the semi-final, you’ve got a right chance.”
The ex-Aston Villa player continued, saying: “Of course you have so tonight, both Rangers and West Ham, they’ll be devastated if they don’t go through.”
Optimistic
Agbonlahor read out the remaining teams in the Europa League before claiming Rangers could win the competition.
Does he think they’re easy teams? Does he not look at the likes of Barcelona, Atalanta and Leipzig and think to himself it might actually be very difficult for the Gers to do that?
We’re delighted with our spot in the quarter-finals but we do feel as though we’ve got past tougher teams than Braga in Europe in recent seasons.
Losing 1-0 away in the first leg was a blow but things should be different at Ibrox tonight when van Bronckhorst’s men have the voice of the Bears pushing them on.
If we win, we’ll play either Leipzig or Atalanta in the semi-final and that will be incredibly difficult.
As we’ve said, we’ve beaten Dortmund in the Europa League this season so we should, in theory, be able to beat anyone who’s left in our way.
But let’s get past Braga first before we get too excited.
It’s going to be a massive game in Glasgow tonight.
In other Rangers news, a club is braced for bids as the Gers line up an “exciting” summer transfer swoop.