Soccer
PREVIEW: Rangers enter crucial Fiorentina match in upbeat mood
By DPA
Apr 30, 2008, 12:08 GMT

Florence, Italy - Glasgow Rangers travel to Florence hoping to secure a place in the UEFA Cup final on Thursday after a fairly dull scoreless draw with Fiorentina in the home leg.

'In the Champions League (where they were eliminated from the group phase) we managed to score away at Stuttgart and Lyon,' said manager Walter Smith.

'And in the UEFA Cup, we scored at Sporting Lisbon and in Greece (Panthinaikos). If you don't concede goals at home, you still have a chance to qualify. For us it was crucial not to take goals in Glasgow.

'They are the favourites, but it has been like this throughout the season. Let's hope to overturn the forecasts once again.'

Rangers need just a draw with at least one goal to advance to the Manchester final and Smith is slightly better off than in the home leg as regards missing players.

David Weir pulled a muscle at the weekend and is missing from defence, but Carlos Cuellar is due back to play next to Christian Dailly.

And in midfield, Smith welcomes back from suspension Barry Ferguson and Kevin Thomson.

Fiorentina were mired in Ranger's defensive tactics in Glasgow and look to play another offensive game while being wary of the Scots' counter attacks.

Coach Claudio Prandelli hopes for a first goal in the tournament from Giampaolo Pazzini, who plays upfront next to Romania's Adrian Mutu.

Midfielder Marco Donadel urged his team to 'go onto the pitch with the mentality we had in Eindhoven,' where a 2-0 win took Fiorentina to the semi-finals.

'We must give all we have from the start and make Rangers understand that they will have a hard time,' Donadel said. 'The first leg only showed their will not to take goals, while we tried to score. The 0-0 was the score they wanted.

'We'll have a little more boldness and determination. We must win and we'll push harder. It is not easy to play fast against a closed team, therefore we'll press them and play one of those games we know how to play.'