Rangers will begin life without Michael Beale at the helm on Thursday, when they travel to take on Aris Limassol in the second round of group-stage fixtures in this year's Europa League.

The manager departed after a weekend defeat to Aberdeen with the Scottish outfit looking to make it back-to-back continental victories, while the hosts will go in search of their first points of the group after beginning with a defeat at the hands of Real Betis.

Match preview

After winning their first-ever Cypriot First Division title last season, Aris Limassol entered into their maiden Champions League qualifying bid in the early stages of the new campaign, beginning in the second round with their sights set on group-stage football.

The Light Brigade met BATE Borisov at that stage and progressed in style with an 11-5 aggregate victory, before falling short against Rakow Czestochowa and dropping out of contention for Europe's premier competition following a 3-1 defeat over two legs and entering the Europa League playoff round as a result.

It was Slovan Bratislava who stood between the Cypriot outfit and the group stage of the continent's secondary tournament, and they would bring up a first group appearance by triumphing 7-4 on aggregate, having come from behind with a 6-2 home victory in the second leg before kicking off in the group with a tough trip to the Czech capital to take on Sparta Prague last month.

The Light Brigade enjoyed a perfect start in that game, as Aleksandr Kokorin converted a penalty to put them ahead in the 11th minute, but the hosts would quickly fight back, drawing level and going ahead before the half-hour mark through a Ladislav Krejci brace before Martin Vitik added a third, and although Shavy Babicka did halve the deficit with Aris' second in injury time, it came too late to inspire a comeback result.

Having seen their slow start to their Cypriot First Division title defence continue since that curtain-raiser, firstly playing out a 2-2 draw away at Omonoia and most recently losing 1-0 at home to rivals Apollon Limassol on Saturday, Aleksey Shpilevsky's side will aim to bounce back in midweek and put their first group-stage points on the board when Rangers travel to Cyprus.

The Gers will make that trip under the temporary stewardship of Steven Davis, after seeing previous manager Michael Beale depart over the weekend following a tough start to their domestic campaign.

After finishing second in the Scottish Premiership and dropping out of the Champions League group stage without a point last time around, the Glasgow giants again entered qualifying for Europe's top competition this time around, and after progressing past Servette, they were unable to overcome PSV Eindhoven in the playoff round, instead dropping into the Europa League group stage following a 7-3 aggregate defeat having drawn 2-2 at home and lost 5-1 on their travels.

Then looking ahead to another campaign in Europe's secondary competition after reaching the final in the 2021-22 term, Rangers began their group campaign at home to Real Betis in mid-September, on the back of an underwhelming start to the Scottish Premiership season which included defeats to Kilmarnock and Celtic, but they were able to kick off with an eye-catching victory, taking all three points at Ibrox as Abdallah Sima netted the only goal in the 67th minute.

The Gers followed that up with a 1-0 victory over Motherwell in the league and a 4-0 thrashing of Livingston on home turf to reach the Scottish League Cup semi-finals, but they were unable to extend the winning run at the weekend, instead suffering another setback in their third league defeat of the campaign thus far after seven games, with Aberdeen travelling to the capital and winning 3-1 with Sima's goal not enough to spark a turnaround.

Such a result spelled the end for Michael Beale's time in the hot seat, with the 55-time top-flight champions sat on 12 points from seven league outings, and they will now aim to rally under the temporary charge of Davis and make it consecutive wins in the Europa League group stage to establish themselves in the top two.

Team News

Aris Limassol head into Thursday's contest with a clean bill of health and should field a similar starting XI to their opening trip to Sparta Prague in a 4-2-3-1 shape, although Shavy Babicka certainly has a claim to start in attack after scoring off the bench in that match.

There is competition in the lone striker spot too, with Yannick Gomis and Mariusz Stepinski both vying to lead the line having netted seven and six goals respectively in all competitions so far this season, while Aleksandr Kokorin netted their opener in Prague and will continue to play a key role behind whichever striker is deployed.

Elsewhere, Karol Struski is a mainstay in midfield and could again be partnered by Julius Szoke, while Slobodan Urosevic and Franz Brorsson should continue to line up in the middle of a back four.

Rangers continue to deal with an unenviable injury list, as midfielders Nicolas Raskin, Kieran Dowell and Todd Cantwell remain confined to the treatment room alongside key attackers Rabbi Matondo and Kemar Roofe, while fellow forward Danilo is nearing a return but will not be deemed fit to feature in Thursday's trip.

Given the loses in midfield, Davis could deploy an unchanged trio of John Lundstram, Ryan Jack and Jose Cifuentes in the engine room from the weekend's clash with Aberdeen, with Connor Goldson and Ben Davies again set to get the nod over John Souttar to start in the middle of the back four.

With Danilo sidelined, Cyriel Dessers should continue to lead the line with support out wide from Sam Lammers and Abdallah Sima, who has netted a team-high tally of five goals in all competitions so far this season.

Aris Limassol possible starting lineup:
Vana; Boakye, Brorsson, Urosevic, Caju; Struski, Szoke; Babicka, Kokorin, Bengtsson; Stepinski

Rangers possible starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Davies, Yilmaz; Cifuentes, Lundstram, Jack; Lammers, Dessers, Sima

We say: Aris Limassol 1-2 Rangers

Rangers will be keen to bounce back after their tough start and the loss of Beale, and they should have enough to get past a brave Aris Limassol side who will make it tough in Cyprus.


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