Rangers could strike fatal Europa League blow as pressure mounts on Benfica rival

If Benfica loses to Rangers in the Europa League Round of 16, manager Roger Schmidt may be fired.

José Manuel Antunes, the club’s former vice president, expressed this opinion after the Lisbon team was humiliated 5-0 by FC Porto, a

rival team in Portugal, over the weekend.

This comes after Benfica’s earlier in the week 2-1 loss to archrival Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of the Portuguese Cup semifinal.

Antunes claims that if Roger Schmidt is unable to reverse that outcome and defeat Rangers while serving in the Europa League, the

German manager’s career would probably come to an end.

Benfica manager’s job on line in Rangers clash

Roger Schmidt’s Benfica team is on the brink, José Manuel Antunes acknowledged in an interview with Portuguese radio station

Rensacença.

In addition to calling the FC Porto loss “incomprehensible,” there is undoubtedly more pressure building before

the Rangers vs. FC Porto Europa League match.”As a fan, I would see it [Schmidt’s stay] with difficulty, if we fell

with Rangers, didn’t

win the championship and the Cup,” Antunes stated. “It will always be a decision by the management.”

“It was expected that they would win every game they played against FC Porto because they

had a roster far better to theirs.

“It seems 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. Roger Schmidt, who has managed teams like RB Salzburg, Bayer

Leverkusen, and PSV Eindhoven, has been

in charge of Benfica since May 2022.

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