Rangers star’s ‘magnificent’ Benfica display stuns ex-Premier League champion

A former Premier League champion showered Jack Butland with plaudits for his “absolutely magnificent” performance

during Rangers’ 2-2 UEFA Europa League tie with Benfica in Lisbon.

Uncapped since 2018, no less, the storyline around a possible England re-call for Rangers’ summer signing may have raised

some eyebrows among casual watchers whose interest in British football ends at Hadrian’s Wall.

However, this kind of performance—heroic in goal, away from home, a true European powerhouse—should help to explain

why Jack Butland has been favoured in certain circles to be included in Gareth Southgate’s squad for Euro 2024.

Jack Butland shines again in Europe

Ibrox legend Ally McCoist called Butland the Rangers’ “best signing in years.”

He did at the Estadio da Luz what he had done for the majority of his tenure at the Glasgow giants, holding Benfica at bay

with a series of outstanding saves.

David Neres was frustrated, not once but three times, by a thirty-year-old whose comeback has been nothing short of

spectacular after a couple of years wasted on the bench.

Speaking at talkSPORT (8 March, 10am), Martin Keown, three-time winner of England’s top flight

with Arsenal, says, “The custodian was absolutely magnificent last night.”

He has a fresh animal appearance. An encore (of Jack Butland). He is now a proper keeper and speaks much better.

Rangers proceeded, but they were positioned beneath the

You can say that again. Benfica mustered 25 shots to Rangers’ nine on the night.

However, it is a credit to Butland’s skill that Roger Schmidt’s team needed an own goal from

Connor Goldson and a penalty from Angel di Maria—John Souttar was unfairly penalised

for an alleged handball—to overcome the opposition.

Tom Lawrence and Dujon Sterling’s strikes at the other end, however, made sure that

Rangers only had a toe or two in the quarterfinals before the second leg at Ibrox next week.