Philippe Clement airs Rangers penalty grievance as he drops £120m Benfica difference quip

Rangers boss Philippe Clement admitted he couldn't have asked for more from his depleted side as they earned a valuable 2-2 draw against Benfica in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie.

The Rangers boss saw his side go ahead twice in a pulsating first half at the Estádio da Luz, firstly through Tom Lawrence before Dujon Sterling cancelled out Angel Di Maria's penalty in the final throws of first half injury time. A second half own goal from Connor Goldson ensured Benfica rescued a draw on the night and the Belgian boss called on side to show the same qualities in next week's crunch second leg.

"We were really close to writing history here. This team (Benfica) never lost a Europa League game here - and we were close on this evening. You are not happy about this but I am proud about my team," said Clement.

"They showed really a team mentality, they showed the right things, we scored good goals, we get unlucky goals against - both of them. With the first penalty, John never seen this ball dropping so you cannot jump with your arms on your back so that's a really unlucky situation. Then also the own goal. Pity that we take goals like this, otherwise it would have been amazing but now it's a really strong performance of my team, they showed real character and quality on the ball" said Clement.

The result continues the Rangers' resurgence under the 49-year-old boss, though Clement refused to take credit and instead pointed to the hard work of the players as key to the club's turnaround in recent months as heralded their response to the recent injury crisis that has saw his offensive options depleted recently.

"It is about them. They made really good steps also with all the injuries in offensive positions for the moment so it is more difficult to make the right changes, then in the second half give some freshness to them. The guys that came in are out of injury or really young like Cole (McKinnon) with no experience at this level - that also makes a difference at the end of the game. But everyone showed their character and gave their maximum to get a good result. This is a good result - an away draw in Benfica.

"You've seen the quality that they have. I read in the newspaper their transfer value is £120 million more than ours so we know it is a big task but I can't ask for more than what my players gave me today. I want to see the same next Thursday, but first next Sunday - we have a very important game in between also" added the Gers head coach.

Rangers face Benfica in the second leg of the Europa League last 16 on Thursday 14 March but are in Scottish Cup action first as they travel to Edinburgh on Sunday to take on Hibs at Easter Road with kick off scheduled for 5.30pm.