Rangers' next Europa League opponents suffer injury crisis but Clement's men urged against complacency
The Ligue 1 outfit will be without both of their starting full-backs on Thursday after picking up knocks on international duty
Youssoufa Moukoko reckons OGC Nice are entering Europa League last-chance saloon territory against Rangers this week - insisting their best chance of victory is if their opponents become complacent.
The French side - who currently occupy fifth place in Ligue 1 - have failed to record a win in their first four games of the revamped format so far, bagging just two points after draws with FC Twente and Real Sociedad. Defeats to Lazio and Ferencvaros has left Franck Haise’s men on the brink of exiting the competition.
And striker Moukoko, who is on loan from Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund, knows that if Nice retain any faint hopes of reaching the knockout phase, they must beat the Gers on Thursday evening. He accepts their form in Europe has been poor but is desperate to salvage their campaign by piling more pressure on Philippe Clement at the Allianz Riviera.
He said: “We haven’t developed our game at all in Europe so far this season. We haven’t even thought about how many points we’d need to qualify. It’s a problem for us and it makes the game against Rangers like a cup final. We have to win if we want to have a chance to progress.
“Rangers are a good team, we know it won’t be easy. But if Rangers arrive in Nice with confidence and think we’re an easy rival because of our numbers in the Europa League then it would be a mistake.”
Rangers will travel to the south of France having already won two and drawn one of the opening four Euro matches in what has been a relatively positive start thus far and the Govan club have been handed a massive boost ahead of the clash, with Nice’ squad plagued by injury issues.
It was confirmed by Nice boss Haise that he will be without the services of both of his preferred starting full-backs who picked up recent knocks on international duty. France international right-back Jonathan Clauss sustained a thigh injury while training with his national team before their Nations League clashes with Israel and Italy and Tunisia’s left-back Ali Abdi also injured himself in his country’s African Cup of Nations tie against Gambia.
The vastly experienced duo’s absence will come as a major blow to Haise who was already missing some other key players for the Gers’ visit, including long-term absentees Terem Moffi, Morgan Sanson and Algerian international Hicham Boudaoui.