Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland
Image source, SNSRangers captain James Tavernier says he hasn’t been able to rewatch the Europa League final defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt, almost three years on from the club’s Seville heartache.
Tavernier converted the opening penalty in the shootout against the Germans only to collect a runners-up medal minutes later.
And he is using that disappointment to try to secure a quickfire return to Bilbao for next month’s showpiece as Rangers face Athletic in the second leg a quarter-final finely poised at 0-0.
“Still never watched a replay of the game,” the defender said.
“When I eventually hang up my boots I will maybe look back at it. It really hurts. To get to the final felt once in a lifetime but we’ve now got a really good chance to get back there.
“It’s a beautiful stadium and it’s somewhere we want to come back to for the final.
“It’s important we play together as a team, that’s what got us to the final the last time. We need to limit their chances and keep 11 men on the pitch.
“It’s anyone’s game. We need to leave the pitch with no regrets and give it our all, which we will do. We want to give the fans a night to remember too.”
When asked why he believes his side have a chance of getting back on to one of European football’s grandest stages, he pointed to the continental adventure Rangers have been on this season.
“Look at the opposition we’ve played so far and the games,” Tavernier, 33, said.
“We believe we can take on anyone on our day. European competitions have always been good for us. We have great belief in that changing room.
“We will have to always be concentrated, we will have to suffer without the ball and hopefully we can catch them on the counter.”
