I’M HAPPY DUBLIN UP
Clement refuses to pick between glory at home and abroad... and with final in Ireland in May as an incentive, his team will be going all out to continue Europa journey
A LOOK of surprise spread across Philippe Clement’s face as bigwigs at the top of the marble staircase made the suggestion that silverware at home should come as a priority for Rangers over success abroad.
But the Ibrox manager’s response remains the same now as it was back in December – why not go for both?
Three months on and there’s a fresh narrative being shared among a section of the Ibrox faithful that this week’s Europa League last-16 clash with Benfica is a distraction Clement’s Premiership pacesetters could do without.
With a slender two-point lead over Celtic and a mounting injury list, the argument put forward is that the glamour continental double-header with the Portuguese giants risks placing all the hard work Gers
FROM anDy neWPoRT in lisbOn have put in back home to salvage their season in jeopardy.
It’s similar to the theory put to Clement just before Christmas when his side faced another massive week with a do-or-die Euro clash against Real Betis just three days before their Viaplay Cup Final showdown with Aberdeen at Hampden.
It got short shrift both then and now.
Clement said: “There were some people on the board who told me that before our European game that it was maybe more important that we won the League Cup.
“And I told them I never work that way. I want players who are hungry for every occasion and who want to win every occasion.
“It doesn’t work like that, it’s not like a menu in a restaurant that you pick out here I’m going to perform and there I’m not.
“Like that you don’t create a winning culture.
“So, OK, it’s a busy schedule, that’s true. But it’s about us working really hard with the players and the staff to get the players ready and also the players themselves showing that they are ready for that kind of competition.
“We are going to full for this game, full at the weekend and go full until the end of the season.
“Was I surprised when the directors said that? No, because it was with good intentions.
“The hunger to win a trophy again was so big in the club that everybody wanted to put emphasis on that.
“But after our night in Spain they were also really happy and after winning the League Cup they were even more happy.
“I think everybody understands that we want to get the best out of everything and that we are going to work hard.”
But if there is one thing Clement can be sure of from his side, it’s graft.
And he insists his team can’t wait to give a sparkling display of those qualities at Benfica’s iconic Estadio da Luz.
Asked what the secret was to Gers’ litany of impressive results in Europe over recent years, he said: “The hunger. The desire.
“If you see the pitch here it’s like at Ibrox. You can play good football. That changes the style of play and everybody knows that all of Europe is watching them.
“They already did really good things. It was a very strong
performance to finish first in a group like we had in the Europa League so now it is a new challenge and a really huge one because Benfica will be ready.
“It will not be that they are underestimating us. They need to react themselves so getting a result here would be a huge thing.”
It might be mind games or simply stating facts, but Clement has made clear his team will be going in as the underdogs against a Portuguese outfit whose estimated squad value of £140million is more than twice the sum Rangers are rated at.
The Ibrox boss added: “The challenge is huge but because of that also exciting for us.
“There are not many games for Rangers where you don’t have much to lose.
“Normally you are the favourites and you need to win and be dominant and score a lot of goals. Expectations are high.
“In this case you need to be realistic. You know they have more than double your budget.
“But we are really ambitious. We are going to work really hard to get a result over the two games and two qualify.
“We are also convinced, all of us, that it’s not only about money and about budget but about a lot of other things and that we are going to show our quality and work really hard to get the result over the two games.
“You always want to start well, that’s nothing new. We always want to start well. I never tell my team to start playing football after 30 minutes or a half.
“There is no difference to the mindset. The only difference is you can have a game with less of the ball than normal so in that way we have to have the right mindset to be ready for that.”
The second leg takes place at Ibrox a week today and Clement wants his men to ensure the tie is still there for the taking when they get Benfica back to Glasgow.
He said: “That’s always the target. We want to win tomorrow. But of course if you are in the last minutes and you feel it’s more important to defend a result then we will do it. We are not naive.
“Of course you want to go with a result to Glasgow and you know at
Ibrox that everything can happen. But I don’t want to think too much about results before this game.
“I want to put all our mindset on trying to win the game, not being satisfied with less at the moment.
“We need to keep good control in everything we are doing but that has always been our philosophy.
“We are never running crazy out of position and that’s what we want to see again. There are two games and we have a second chance at Ibrox. But I don’t want to think about second chances. I want my team to go and take the first chance.”