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Rangers have reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League for the first time and if they could have hand-picked their opposition, it would probably have been Sporting Braga.
However, that is largely a reflection of the depth of this year's tournament rather than the Portuguese side being easy pickings because Carlos Carvalhal's side are actually favourites (13/10 with Betfred) to win Thursday's first leg at the Braga Municipal Stadium.
This is a repeat of the last 32 match between these sides in 2019/20. On that occasion, the Scottish side prevailed in both matches, coming from behind to win 3-2 in Glasgow before a Ryan Kent goal in northern Portugal was enough to earn a 1-0 win that secured their place in the next round.
Braga go into this tie in decent shape having edged out Benfica by three goals to two in a Friday night thriller and they are a pretty solid proposition on their own patch, losing just three of their 15 Portuguese Liga games this term. Their record at home in the Europa League knockout phase is W7 D2 L4, the recent 2-0 wins against Sheriff and Monaco coming after successive defeats by Rangers and Roma (0-2).
Rangers need to bounce back quickly after losing out in Saturday's Old Firm derby, a result that means they now have a mountain to climb if they are going to retain their SPL title.
However, Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side are on a roll in this competition for all that they were probably a little fortunate to get past Crvena zvezda in the last round. That 2-1 defeat in Serbia was the Gers' first on the road in this competition since September and their 4-2 win in Dortmund will live long in the memory as one of the great moments of the club's modern history.
Prediction for Braga vs Rangers
This looks a tough game to call from a punting point of view. Braga are a solid enough outfit at home but Rangers will not fear going to the Braga Municipal Stadium given what they did in Dortmund.
Rangers are a shade of odds-on to qualify from this tie but they might just have to wait until the second leg before getting their noses in front because this opening salvo has the potential to be quite a tight, cagey affair.
The flip side to that is that Rangers have scored in every game they have played since February 2 and have conceded at least once in each of their last three. That raises the prospect of a scoring draw - a result which both sides would probably take.
Recommended bet: Back the draw at 11/5 with Betfred
Braga vs Rangers odds with Betfred
- Braga - 13/10
- Draw - 11/5
- Rangers - 19/10
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