‘It’s a completely absurd thing’ – Ex-club chief says Manager faces sack in Benfica v Rangers after weekend loss

Roger Schmidt, the Benfica manager, may lose his job if his team loses to Rangers in the Europa League, according to José Manuel Antunes.

On March 4, the former vice president of the Portuguese powerhouses stated to Radio Renascenca’s Bola Branca that he couldn’t see the German team surviving another loss to the Light Blues and going home empty-handed after their 5-0 thrashing at the hands of rivals Porto the day before.

On Thursday, March 7, Philippe Clement will lead his team to Lisbon for the first leg of their last-16 match; a week later, on March 14, they will return to Ibrox.

In English, Antunes stated: “As a fan, I would see [Schmidt’s stay] with difficulty, if we fell with Rangers, didn’t win the championship and the Cup. But it will always be a decision by the management.”

“It is unfathomable that such a catastrophe occurred. It’s a humiliating loss for the people of Benfica. It’s totally nonsensical; it didn’t resemble Benfica. Santa Clara gave a lot more responses.

In their Europa League matchup against Rangers, Roger Schmidt’s job could be in jeopardy.

The unexpected 2-1 loss to Motherwell on Saturday, March 2, gave Clement his first taste of defeat at Ibrox as Rangers manager, but it was nothing compared to the prelude for the Gers’ opponents.

It would seem that the worst preparation for a major European matchup was the comprehensive loss to a Porto team that entered the game trailing Benfica by nine points. The outcome also passed up the opportunity to return to the top of the Liga Portugal.

The Light Blues will need to pray that the setback doesn’t spark a huge positive response and that the pressure to bounce back makes it possible to return to Glasgow with a successful outcome.

Even though Clement would dearly love to repeat Giovanni van Bronchhorst’s thrilling run to this competition’s final two seasons ago, he will understand that the SPFL title race takes precedence over all else, and Celtic missed the chance to capitalize on the Rangers error.

The Scottish Cup match against Hibs is positioned between the two legs against Benfica, so by the time the Belgian plays for his team in league action again, he will know if this is his final opportunity to add another trophy to the League Cup this season.

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