Philippe Clement declared he wants to build a “machine” at Rangers as he prepares for the Europa League clash with Sparta Prague at Ibrox on Thursday night.
The Belgian is unbeaten in five games since taking over as Gers boss from Michael Beale, with the only blip a goalless draw against the Czech side in Prague last month.
Rangers secured a Viaplay Cup final date with Aberdeen courtesy of a “positive” 3-1 victory over Hearts at Hampden Park on Sunday, and Clement is wanting more.
“It is just the start,” said the former Genk, Club Brugge and Monaco boss, who revealed winger Scott right was a “serious doubt” with a muscle injury but striker Kemar Roofe will return to the squad despite being only able to contribute “five or 10 minutes”.
“For me a good team is a team that does it for months.
“And of course there will be one moment where it will be less (a dip) but the next game there is a reaction.
“Of course I am happy with the way things are going but I am not sitting on the sofa and thinking now we can let everything loose and the machine will go.
“I want to create a machine and I think it is possible with this group to create a machine that goes every time but we are not there yet.
“We are in the building period, not just observing. I don’t know everyone really well at the moment in every circumstances.
“I want to see how players react with the first disappointment or play a really good game and the next game they don’t start.
“I seen that in the semi-final. There were players who played a really good game a few games before (against Dundee) and then didn’t play in the semi-final. How is their reaction?
“So I need an observation period for a few weeks, a few months to get the details of everybody and get the best out of everybody.
“Do I need to slap them more or be nice more? It is different for every player.”
After three Group C fixtures, Spanish side Real Betis sit top on six points with Sparta Prague and Rangers on four and Cypriot side Aris Limassol on three.
Clement said: “European nights are always something special, they have always been.
“I love it and I hope it is a really positive atmosphere in the stadium.
“I always want to win and I want a team that always wants to win, if it is against Prague or Real Madrid, it doesn’t matter to me.
“I want a team who is ambitious and wants to win the game, I am not looking for a draw but it can be that at the end of the section that a draw is also important. But we are going for three points.”
Defenders Leon Balogun and Ridvan Yilmaz were not named in Rangers’ European squad and thus drop out.
Midfielder Nicolas Raskin (ankle) and defender John Souttar (muscle problem) remain out but Clement hopes they will return after the international break.
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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