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Europa League Opponent Watch

By Joseph Sinke

SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - SEPTEMBER 02: Elmir Nabiullin of FC Zenit Saint Petersburg and Aleksandr Lomovitsky (in front) of FC Spartak Moscow vie for the ball during the Russian Premier League match between FC Zenit Saint Petersburg and FC Spartak Moscow on September 2, 2018 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Photo by Epsilon/Getty Images)
SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - SEPTEMBER 02: Elmir Nabiullin of FC Zenit Saint Petersburg and Aleksandr Lomovitsky (in front) of FC Spartak Moscow vie for the ball during the Russian Premier League match between FC Zenit Saint Petersburg and FC Spartak Moscow on September 2, 2018 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Photo by Epsilon/Getty Images) /
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With the Europa League groups being announced last week we know who Rangers will face in the group stages of Europe. Lets keep an eye on how their opponents are faring.

As a disclaimer up front, I will in no way pretend to have a whole lot of knowledge about any of these three teams at this point. Hopefully, that changes but regardless.

Spartak Moscow: 0-0 Draw with Zenit Saint Petersburg.

This past weekend Moscow played against league leading Zenit Saint Petersburg and drew 0-0 in a game where apparently a drone fell on the field in the middle. The draw kept Moscow’s unbeaten league season alive after 6 games. They currently sit 2nd in the table (behind only Zenit Saint Petersburg) with 14 points, 4 victories and 2 draws. Moscow have only allowed a single goal in league play.

Rapid Wien: 1-1 Draw with Sturm Graz

Just like Russia, the Austrian Bundesliga completed its 6th week of matches this past weekend and just like Moscow, Rapid Wien came away with a draw. I have no clue how this came to be because I couldn’t find anything in English that said anything about the game. I’ll spend some time trying to find some English coverage of the team or league.

Wien currently sits 5th in the league with 9 points with 2 victories, 3 draws, and a pair of losses. Their opponent this past weekend also have 9 points but sit behind Wien in the table on goal differential.

Wien has scored 8 goals and allowed 5 in league play.

Villarreal CF: Lost 0-1 to Girona FC

Villarreal may be the biggest league dog in this group but so far in the young season, they have struggled. La Liga is only three weeks into the season but Villarreal currently sits at 18th in the league (a relegation spot) with just a single point to their name.

The loss this past weekend was the second of the year for Villarreal to go with a single tie. They have scored just 1 goal and allowed 3 in their three matches. The Spanish side is likely to get their act together at some point, but Rangers will play them first out of the group so if they continue to struggle much longer then Rangers may get a bit lucky.

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