Rangers v Maccabi Haifa

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Rangers will aim to make it two wins out of two in the Uefa Cup group stage when they host Israel's Maccabi Haifa.

Despite their woes in the Scottish Premier League, Paul Le Guen's side became the first Scottish club to win a European tie in Italy when they opened their Group A campaign with a 3-2 win at Livorno.

The victory came after an embarrassing 1-0 home defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, with the former Lyon boss still coming to grips with life managing an Old Firm club.

A win at promoted St Mirren was followed by another poor result at Ibrox, as The Gers were held to a 1-1 draw by Motherwell last Saturday.

It leaves the Glasgow club 12 points behind Old Firm rivals Celtic in the SPL table at this early stage of the season.

With the Uefa Cup becoming more of a priority, Rangers host a Maccabi Haifa side that also claimed a notable Group A result after disposing of French club Auxerre 3-1 in Tel-Aviv.

Thursday's meeting is the first in European competition between the clubs, with Maccabi having given Liverpool a scare in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League before bowing out.

Like Le Guen, Maccabi boss Roni Levy is under pressure in Israel after a similarly slow start to their domestic campaign.

Nonetheless, Haifa have attacking qualities that Rangers will need to be aware of, with former West Ham United striker Yaniv Katan back in their ranks.

Levy's squad also includes Brazilian midfielder Gustavo Boccoli and Argentine-born striker Roberto Colautti, who recently took out temporary Israeli citizenship.

Congolese midfielder Alain Masudi is also seen as a key player for Maccabi, with Le Guen aware of Haifa's skill and ability.

The Gers have no fresh injury concerns ahead of Thursday's game, but midfielders Libor Sionko and Lee Martin (both knee) are still on the sidelines.

Winger Chris Burke is out with a dislocated shoulder, while defender Sasa Papac is cup-tied after playing for Austria Vienna earlier in the competition.

Maccabi, meanwhile, will be without Israel international defender Adoram Keisi after he tore his hamstring in the win over Auxerre.

Source: http://home.skysports.com

[LAF]

Hmm... it's a trick one to predict. Rangers have been really bad in the SPL but look half decent in Europe. I think this'll be a draw though.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Rangers 2 - 0 Maccabi Haifa

R: Novo (5), Adam (89 pen).

Attendence: 43 062

Rangers:

22 Allan McGregor
20 Alan Hutton
19 Karl Svensson
26 Steven Smith
07 Brahim Hemdani
06 Barry Ferguson
08 Jeremy Clement
25 Charlie Adam (Gavin Rae 90)
10 Nacho Novo
09 Dado Prso (Thomas Buffel 66)
15 Kris Boyd (Filip Sebo 66)

Maccabi Haifa:

01 Nir Davidovitch
03 Alon Harazi (Eyal Meshumar 85)
21 Dekil Keinan
19 Rafael Olarra
18 Haim Magralishvili
15 Xavier Dirceu
05 Xavier Anderson
07 Gustavo Bokoli (Maor Melikson 60)
10 Alain Masudi (Shlomi Arbaitman 81)
20 Yaniv Katan
09 Roberto Colautti

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Rangers boss Paul Le Guen may still be struggling with the idiosyncrasies of Scottish football but there is no such trouble on the European stage, as his side's 2-0 victory over Maccabi Haifa bore testimony.

Kris Boyd could even be afforded the luxury of missing a penalty as Nacho Novo and then Charlie Adams, from the spot, secured a three-point haul for a galvanised Rangers.

Ibrox was the venue for Rangers' second Group A victory in as many games, as Novo's fifth minute strike and Adams' late penalty shot them to the top of the table.

While there may be a cosmopolitan air about Rangers following Le Guen's arrival, Nacho's opener was manifest through the most traditional of British means.

A towering pass from back to front saw Boyd rise above his marker to flick the ball on. Nacho took the big man's knock-down in his path before rifling past Nir Davidovich with the aid of a slight deflection.

With the home side in the ascendancy and the Glaswegian crowd in fine voice, Rangers pressed for second and nearly grabbed one, minutes later, when Boyd's looping header needed to be tipped over.

Prior to Nacho's opener and Maccabi briefly threatened when Gustavo Boccoli fired a ball across Rangers' box but Alain Masudi failed to connect and, in truth, Gers goalkeeper Allan McGregor was rarely threatened by the away side.

Maccabi were neat in possession but had little cutting thrust in the final third and with Barry Ferguson a driving force, Rangers were always in control - save for a brief Maccabi flurry in the second 45 minutes.

The second half was barely a minute old when Dado Prso was brought down in the box, via a fine tackle from Alon Harazi, only for the referee Costas Kapitanis to point to the spot.

Boyd stepped up and as is so often the case in such matters, justice prevailed, as Davidovich guessed right and saved low to his right.

There was, though, little respite for Maccabi as Ferguson cut inside and fired in another warning shot that struck the outside of Davidovich's near post.

McGregor needed to be smart to cover his own near post as Maccabi threatened on a forward foray, but a deserved three points were claimed a minute from time when Adam showed Boyd how to dispatch from twelve yards.

A surging run from Ferguson saw the captain upended in Maccabi's box and from the resultant spot-kick, Adam buried the ball in style with a composed finish.

Rangers now lead Group A with a maximum six points garnered thus far and while their domestic exploits disappoint, in Europe, they continue to show promise.

Source: http://home.skysports.com

[LAF]

Rangers played very very well.

It's the best Barry Ferguson has played in years, dominated the game with his passing and movement. Looks like he's out for sometime AGAIN when he was picking up form.

Novo was also great. Scored and worked hard. He even got back and tackled MH striker one on one with the keeper.