Rangers boss Philippe Clement on their UEFA Europa League last 16 defeat to Benfica

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Rangers boss Philippe Clement on their UEFA Europa League last 16 defeat to Benfica Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, UK

Transcript

00:00 Do we have any Portuguese questions before we start? Otherwise we'll do it all in English.

00:16 No questions in Portuguese so no translation. Martin please.

00:20 Philippe, ultimately you are out. How did you feel the night developed and did you feel

00:25 you deserved more?

00:28 I think it was a close tie. But I'm proud of what my players showed. We played a better

00:36 game than we played in Lisbon. A better game on the ball. But you need to be on your toes

00:45 to compete with these kind of teams with a much bigger budget than you have. Everybody

00:51 did that. Everybody raised their level towards the Lisbon game. Then you need to take the

01:00 moments. We didn't take enough of our moments and they took that moment. We made a wrong

01:09 decision making. If Dio just runs with the attacker nothing happens in that situation.

01:16 But he's still a young player who plays for the first time at this level and he played

01:20 a really good game. So I'm proud of what I saw. I saw a team who was brave. I saw a team

01:28 who wanted to take the domination of the game. Benfica started with wanting to put pressure

01:35 on us like they did in Lisbon where we were less good on the ball. But we were much better

01:41 on the ball in that way. Then it's about taking the important moments around 16-16, which

01:52 we didn't do enough.

01:53 You struggled to create chances after the goal. Was that down to the schedule, the injuries?

02:03 What do you think the reason for that was?

02:05 For the moment we don't have the same impact that we had a few weeks or a few months ago

02:11 with players coming in. All the guys who came in, they come out of injury and they lack

02:18 game rhythm. It's about hard work now, next couple of weeks, to make them better again.

02:25 Like Tots, if you only had one training after eight weeks out you cannot expect miracles.

02:32 You expect in one moment to be lucky. But it could have happened. We had the moment

02:39 at the end that the ball was just next to the post. So you gamble on that. But that's

02:48 the situation for the moment and everybody's working really hard to get a bigger squad

02:53 fit for the next weeks and months to come.

02:57 For the goal you were caught in the counter. It's an excellent finish in the end. There

03:01 seemed a few times you were exposed from your own corner kicks. Why was that?

03:08 Because they have a lot of quality. That's one thing. The goal we get against, we make

03:14 the wrong decision. I don't think they created a lot of chances out of that. We had also

03:22 counter-attack in the first half on the set pieces. So there's a lot of space at that

03:27 moment.

03:28 It's been a busy schedule. You've got a lot of injuries as well. Did you feel the team

03:31 maybe tired quite a bit towards the end of the game?

03:34 Of course some players were tired at the end of the game. But on Benfica's side also. They

03:41 made also their changes. So that's normal at this level and if you play that kind of

03:46 game on that tempo. So it's normal that you get tired players. That's why it's important

03:54 in those moments that you can bring in players who can raise the level again with their freshness.

04:03 That we lacked a bit at the end of the game. But that's something we need to work on the

04:09 next couple of weeks to get everybody back in the best shape.

04:12 Do you see this as a missed opportunity tonight?

04:22 It's a difficult question because if I see where the team was not five months ago but

04:28 two months ago, they could not compete in this way with Benfica. So the team is still

04:34 growing. If I see the game last week and now on the ball, it's a big difference. So the

04:40 team is growing and we need to adapt to the circumstances. So I think if you see the budget

04:49 of the two clubs, you need as a Scottish club to be really proud of what the players showed

04:55 because it was really tight margins. If you look back at last week, if you don't concede

05:03 this penalty, it could have been extra times now. So it's about that. But we look at ourselves

05:12 what we can do better. As a team, the players showed that also, that they can be better

05:18 on the ball than in Lisbon. But they defended also really hard, solid together. Everybody

05:25 worked really hard. So we're going to continue that story in the next weeks and the next

05:30 months. That's the most important thing now. We need to leave this European competition

05:38 behind us and to be really proud to be first in the Europa League group and then to be

05:45 in two games really competitive with the team as Benfica. I think the club can be proud

05:51 about that.

05:52 Is it a challenge for you to get the boys to be energetic?

06:02 No, it's zero challenge for me. I don't have any doubt about that, that it's a challenge

06:10 for the boys. Or that there will be one in the dressing room saying, "Ah, we're out of

06:14 Europe now, the season is finished." No, totally not. I know my boys, I know my dressing room.

06:21 They will recover well this evening. They will take their ice baths, they will take

06:25 their food, they will try to sleep. And tomorrow they will come in with a lot of hunger to

06:30 be ready for Sunday.

06:31 Can you focus on domestic football now? Could this still be a memorable season?

06:38 I think it's already a memorable season. How long ago it was that the Rangers won the League

06:43 Cup? We're hungry for the two other trophies, yes. We're going to all stick together and

06:54 work really hard to focus now on those two goals. I read a lot of times the last couple

07:04 of weeks that it was maybe even better, that we were not in Europe anymore by you guys.

07:08 I didn't agree, I told you. So I still don't agree about that. But no, it's now focusing

07:15 on the two other trophies.

07:20 The reaction at the end of the game at full-time by the support were on their feet?

07:24 That says everything.

07:25 That's what I was going to ask you. It seems like that togetherness and that want to thank

07:30 the players for their efforts overall.

07:32 Yeah, for sure. These fans are also used to a lot of things, a lot of quality, a lot of

07:42 great moments. It's what I said from the beginning, these fans, they know football. They know

07:53 what they want, not only football but also to see a team that has a heart for Rangers,

07:59 that they saw in the two games. If you lose them, then you are disappointed, you're sick

08:06 of it, like I am now, but you're also proud. That I feel with the fans, they understand.

08:12 So it was a really, really important thing. Also, they did this towards the players because

08:18 it shows again this togetherness that is really strong for the moment in this club and that's

08:23 what we need to keep for the future. That this thing doesn't get lost anymore like it

08:29 was in the beginning of the season.

08:30 You make my life difficult to switch like that. I will take revenge one moment.

08:47 How quickly do the squad need to refocus for what will be a very different game on Sunday?

08:53 Directly? OK. This evening I've been also in the dressing room. As a player it's really

09:01 difficult and the older you become, I start to talk now like the really old people, the

09:10 more incredible nice moments you have but the more disappointments you have also and

09:16 disappointing moments. You learn out of that. You learn also to switch faster. That's now

09:25 the challenge, to do it really fast. Tomorrow morning I see everybody back, I will look

09:30 everybody in the eyes and if I see somebody still with his head down, I will see that

09:35 he's raised again and with his chest in front to be ready on Sunday.

09:39 Philip Kolaski about Jack Butland, many of us were surprised today that he didn't make

09:42 the England squad. Were you surprised? Did you speak with him about it? How is he?

09:51 Surprised I said from the beginning. I will never interfere what another manager needs

09:57 to do out of selection because you don't know all the details. And Jack was ready to be

10:04 there. So I think it proves that in England they have a lot of really good goalkeepers

10:12 if he's not there. That's the only thing important. I spoke with Jack shortly, yes, this afternoon

10:19 but it was not really necessary because he was focused on the game, what he showed also

10:23 today. So those are the things in life and he continues working hard for Rangers. And

10:33 then other things can come, you create the possibility. I think the most positive thing

10:38 is that last couple of weeks a lot of things are written about that, for Jack going to

10:44 the England squad. I didn't hear one person saying "Oof, that's a strange thing." So in

10:52 that he did prove already a lot. So he will continue doing that next month.

10:57 What a disappointment he may have, it can still be a very special season for him at

11:02 this club, there are still huge prizes for him to go and chase this season.

11:05 Yes, but I don't like these talks about him, him, him. It's about us and everybody together.

11:12 So Jack is not busy with himself, he's busy with the team and he's helping the team with

11:19 his experience and that's our strength and that's what we're going to show in the next

11:23 couple of months also.

11:24 Philip, seems like I'm asking you this every week, but is there an injury update ahead

11:36 of Sunday with some of the other players maybe coming back? Dujon, and is there any update

11:41 possibly on Abdallah Seema? It was said that he would be out maybe 10-12 weeks at the start

11:46 of the year. Is he making good progress in his recovery? Not obviously to make it Sunday,

11:51 but maybe in the next few weeks. Is there any sign of him coming back?

11:57 Last question and then I will talk about Abda. Abda is in the same way that was prognosed

12:04 before. He feels really good, step by step. We are doing the rehab more, so he's outside

12:11 now for the moment, for sure not with the team yet. But he's progressing really well,

12:18 that's a good thing. Dujon is going to be a really doubtful one towards Sunday. We will

12:26 see, but we will not take a risk with him to have him out longer term. And Ross McCausland

12:33 also still struggled today, so he was on the bench. You need to think that this game was

12:37 possibly for one under 20 minutes. Scott coming out of injury, played a lot. Rabih coming

12:46 out of injury, had to play a minute, so I had to keep a third player also there if they

12:52 could not manage to do one under 20 minutes together. In that way, I'm more a mathematician

12:58 for the moment than a manager. That's why Ross was on the bench, but he was not fully

13:04 fit. We will see if he's fully fit for Sunday.

13:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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