Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce welcome Rangers to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul for the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday evening.
While the Gers secured a top-eight finish in the 36-team League Phase, their Turkish counterparts finished way down in 24th spot and required a 5-2 aggregate victory over Anderlecht in the playoff round to reach the knockout rounds.
Match preview
Fenerbahce have not lost in any competition since December 11 and they extended their impressive unbeaten run to 18 matches after easing to a 3-0 home victory over Antalyaspor in the Turkish Super Lig last Sunday.
Mert Muldur, Dusan Tadic and Youssef En-Nesyri were all on the scoresheet within the opening half hour and Fenerbahce prevented their opponents from registering a single shot on target as they comfortably collected maximum points to move to within four points of league leaders Galatasaray.
The Yellow Canaries triumphed without the presence of Mourinho on the touchline, as he was serving the second and final game of his two-match domestic suspension for "his derogatory and offensive statements" towards Turkish referees. The 62-year-old will return to the dugout for Thursday's Europa League battle with Rangers, though.
Mourinho is bidding to win his second Europa League title after steering Manchester United to glory in 2016-17, while Fenerbahce are hoping that their Portuguese boss can guide them beyond the last 16 for the first time since 2012-13 when they reached the semi-finals.
Fenerbahce will fancy their chances over two legs against Rangers, as they have never lost against Scottish opposition in European competition, albeit drawing three times and winning just once - beating the Gers 2-1 on aggregate in a Champions League qualifier back in 2001.
Rangers were unable to build on their first victory under new head coach Barry Ferguson - a 4-2 comeback win at Kilmarnock - as they suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership last weekend.
After going into half time two goals down, Rangers pulled one back nine minutes after the break through top scorer Cyriel Dessers - his 21st goal of the season - before the striker controversially had a late equaliser disallowed by VAR, allowing the Steelmen to hold on and condemn Rangers to three straight losses at Ibrox for the first time in over a decade.
Ferguson endured a painful return to Ibrox, where he made 409 appearances across two spells as a player, and his Rangers side now sit 16 points behind champions-elect and bitter rivals Celtic at the summit. The Gers will welcome a trip away from Glasgow as they have won their last three matches on the road and have lost only one of their last seven Europa League away fixtures.
However, Rangers head into Thursday's contest having progressed from only two of their previous 11 last-16 ties in major European competition, eliminating Werder Bremen from the UEFA Cup in 2007-08 and Red Star Belgrade from the Europa League on their way to reaching the final in 2021-22.
The Gers are bidding to avoid exiting the Europa League at the last-16 stage for a second successive season after they were beaten over two legs by Benfica last year, losing 3-2 on aggregate.
Team News
Fenerbahce's Jayden Oosterwolde and Rodrigo Becao have both suffered season-ending knee injuries, while Diego Carlos (knee) and Ismail Yuksek (muscle) are also in the treatment room.
Fred and Bright Osayi-Samuel are both suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards, so Sofyan Amrabat will likely deputise for the former in midfield, while Mert Muldur operates at right wing-back in the absence of the latter.
Youssef En-Nesyri is Fenerbahce's top scorer this season with 26 goals in all competitions, including six in the Europa League, and the Moroccan is set to continue in attack with 38-year-old Edin Dzeko and 36-year-old Dusan Tadic.
As for Rangers, winger Oscar Cortes remains sidelined with an unspecified injury, while defender Leon King departed the club last weekend to join Queen's Park on an emergency loan deal.
John Souttar is set to shake off a calf issue that forced him to miss the defeat to Motherwell and the centre-back is poised to return to the heart of defence alongside Robin Propper, allowing captain James Tavernier to revert to his favoured right-back role after making his 500th Rangers appearance as a centre-back last time out.
Connor Barron and Nedim Bajrami will both be pushing for a start in midfield after beginning as substitutes last weekend, while Ferguson will weigh up whether to start one of or both of Dessers and Hamza Igamane in attack.
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Egribayrat; Skriniar, Soyuncu, Akcicek; Muldur, Amrabat, Szymanski, Kostic; Tadic; En-Neysri, Dzeko
Rangers possible starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Propper, Jefte; Diomande, Raskin; Cerny, Igamane, Hagi; Dessers
We say: Fenerbahce 2-1 Rangers
Fenerbahce boast the highest shot conversion rate of any remaining team in the Europa League this season (16.5%), netting 14 of their 85 attempts on goal. They will back themselves to make the net ripple once again on Thursday against a Rangers side that have scored 15 of their 16 EL goals from open play - the joint-highest total in the competition this term.
Considering the contrasting form of these two sides, we are backing the high-flying hosts to get the better of a Gers outfit still getting to grips with the demands of new boss Ferguson.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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