“We can compete” – Super Eagles star eyes UEFA Europa League glory with Rangers

Super Eagles and Rangers striker, Cyriel Kolawole Dessers, has backed his side to defy the odds to reach the latter stages of the UEFA Europa League this season, Soccernet.ng reports.

The 30-year-old has scored 18 goals for the Gers in all competitions this term, including a stunning equaliser against Manchester United at Old Trafford, which won the Rangers goal of the month for January.

Dessers led Feyenoord to the UEFA Europa Conference League final in 2022, losing to Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma. While Rangers are below par in the SPFL this season, the Super Eagles striker backed his side to make it count in Europe.

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️ “Something special is possible.”

Cyriel Dessers, who reached the Conference League final with Feyenoord in 2022, a week after Rangers lost out to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final, has his sights on further progress.#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/vhPKLsU72C

— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) February 7, 2025

“We’re still competing in three competitions and I think the confidence that we got from the European games is huge, with getting to the top eight. So I think something special there is possible for the Europa League. We just need to keep going. You never know what happens and just keep looking at it game by game.

“Against some very good teams, we showed that we can compete with them and I think maybe that football in the Europa League sometimes fits us a little bit better even, but also we showed it last season as well that we can compete with teams like Benfica,” the former Cremonese striker said in quotes revealed by Rangers’ official website.

Rangers narrowly claimed 8th place in the UEFA Europa League group phase, nicking the spot on goal difference ahead of Norwegian side, Bodo/ Glimt. This gave them a direct path to the competition’s round of sixteen. However, Dessers claims it’s no less than Philippe Clement’s side deserved.

“Also if you see we made it to the top eight and a lot of the teams that we played against are in the top eight as well. That just shows that we had the most difficult programme of everybody in the Europa League and we still got into the top eight. That’s a massive achievement and all credit to the group,” the Belgium-born Nigerian added.

Dessers concluded by mentioning their display during the group phase has given them the belief to take on any opposition during the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League.

“So that gives us confidence and we know from here on in the knockout phase there are no easy games anymore. That’s also what I saw when we went to the final with Feyenoord, but you also know that the more you progress the more it becomes 50-50 in these games. Even if you play against very big clubs everything is possible in a quarter-final or a semi-final,” the ex-Genk man concluded.

Rangers are currently 2nd on the SPFL table, 13 points behind league leaders, Celtic. They take another step closer to a silverware when they take on Queens Park in the Scottish Cup tomorrow.