Rangers have to put ‘huge focus’ on Frankfurt’s Filip Kostic – Derek Rae
The Europa League final is rapidly approaching and the excitement among Rangers players and fans is increasing minute by minute.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side are in Seville for their final preparations before Wednesday’s (18 May) final at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and they will be taking a close look at their German opponents.
Eintracht Frankfurt beat West Ham to reach the final but will face a tough Rangers team who have already beaten fellow Bundesliga clubs Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig in the knockout rounds.
Bundesliga expert Derek Rae believes the Light Blues need to pay close attention to one particular player for Frankfurt and thinks a lot of eyes will be on this duel.
“The key player is Filip Kostic on the left-hand side, who is probably the best deliverer of a ball in the Bundesliga,” Rae said to the Scottish Daily Express.
“When Frankfurt are at their best, that left-hand side comes into play. Rangers fans will see that immediately as James Tavernier being the player that has to pick him up.
“There will be a huge focus on that confrontation.”
Discipline
James Tavernier has earned massive praise during his time at Rangers for his prowess in front of goal and he’s currently the Europa League’s top scorer despite playing at right-back.
The skipper often pops up at the back post to score the important goals and he’s proven to be deadly from the penalty spot too but he needs to do more than just attack on Wednesday.
Kostic has been the mastermind of Frankfurt’s success this season and their best moments against the Hammers, and away at Barcelona in the quarter-final, have all come through the Serbian.
Tavernier has to be aware of the danger he poses and not get too excited at attacking because the counter-attack threat is a major concern for van Bronckhorst.
Equally, Kostic might have to do a lot more tracking back than he would ideally prefer and the chess match between the two will be a very intriguing sub-plot to the main story in Seville.
In other Rangers news, the Gers have been sent a good luck message from the most unlikeliest of sources.