Tavernier in pledge to match hero Greig
proud of it.’ A mass exodus of Rangers fans is already underway, with 100,000 supporters descending on the Spanish city and surrounding areas. Despite an official allocation of just 9,500 tickets for the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, the Ibrox side expect to have between 16,000 and 18,000 supporters in the 43,000-seater arena. Up to 45,000 ticketless fans will also be able to watch the game on a big screen in the city’s La Cortuja Stadium, with another huge arena in Malaga providing a safe space for supporters to gather. Rangers sent five members of staff to the city last week to finalise preparations for a safe environment and Tavernier hopes to send the army of supporters home happy. Insisting it ‘would be a dream come true’ to win the Europa League, the captain added: ‘To lead this team out — who are an exceptional group of boys — I couldn’t be more proud. ‘I think a lot comes into the mix. It’s 50 years since the last time we won a European cup and it’s our 150th anniversary. ‘We’ve also had the sad passing of Walter (Smith) and Jimmy (Bell), so I think there’s the emotion of it all where we want to make people proud. That’s the people at the club and the ones looking down on us. ‘With the group of boys we have in there, they all understand and they all know what it means to be a Rangers player and what it means for those people who
had an impact on all of us. ‘That’s why I’m exceptionally proud to lead these boys because everyone understands what it means to wear the shirt.’ Despite playing at right-back, Tavernier is the top scorer in the Europa League this season with seven goals — admitting he loves to base his game on the likes of Marcelo and Roberto Carlos. ‘I’ve always loved getting forward, even if it’s in training; I love scoring goals,’ he said. ‘I always looked at Marcelo or Dani Alves; they were my go-to guys, even Cafu. ‘When I was much younger, I loved watching the Brazilians; how they played and how attacking they were. You look at how decorated Dani Alves is, and Marcelo; how they’ve been top of the game throughout their career ‘They’re people that I really (look up to).’ Tavernier now needs two more goals to leapfrog injured striker Alfredo Morelos as the club’s top scorer this term. ‘I’m still going for Alfredo,’ he laughed. ‘He’s our top goalscorer, and I’ve got to get two more to beat him. That’s my aim, so I’m looking forward to it. ‘Hopefully, we can keep a clean sheet on Wednesday and, hopefully, I can be top goalscorer in the competition.’ While bookmakers have Eintracht Frankfurt as favourites, Rangers have already knocked out Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig — two teams who finished higher in the Bundesliga. ‘We know Frankfurt are a very good team,’ said Tavernier. ‘They have knocked out Barcelona and
West Ham, who are strong oppositions you would have considered as favourites. ‘We don’t look too much at what their league says because they have earned their respect by getting to the final of this competition. We’ve got to respect them. They have got to this final for a reason. ‘They are very good on the counter-attack and, as a German team, they’ll be good on the ball and strong physically. ‘We just have to nullify their threats and really take the game to them. ‘We have put ourselves in a great position now to win a European cup. And that’s everybody’s dream — every player and every fan.’