James Tavernier's first Europa League run appeared likely to be his last.
The right-back finally got his chance at Newcastle United in 2012-13 as Alan Pardew's first-team squad was stretched to breaking point.
However, Tavernier's chance equated to just eight appearances and five starts in all competitions, utilised right across the defence. He played 301 minutes in Europe (including qualifiers) but looked a little out of his depth.
By the time Newcastle reached the quarter-finals of the competition, Tavernier had played his last game for the club.
The following season brought the fifth and sixth loan moves of his career – all to League One or below. A permanent transfer to Wigan Athletic followed, but Tavernier was soon back out on loan again – to League One again.
This underwhelming sequence of temporary moves to the third tier for a player once seen as a potential Premier League starter was interrupted then by Rangers. Heading to the Scottish Championship, it would have taken incredible foresight to even imagine how Tavernier's career might be transformed.
Newcastle may not have had another European campaign in the past nine years, but Tavernier has enjoyed five – and now, in Seville, a final.
The right-back goal machine
Rangers hoped for goals when they struck a deal with Wigan to bring Martyn Waghorn and Tavernier to Ibrox in 2015. Waghorn delivered in the club's promotion campaign, scoring 28 times in all competitions, but Rangers surely could not have anticipated Tavernier would also chip in with 15.
While Waghorn is long gone, having not performed at quite the same level on Rangers' return to the top tier, Tavernier has since maintained his staggering standard. In 345 Rangers appearances, the defender has scored 83 goals.
This season, Tavernier has scored 18 goals and assisted a further 16 for 34 goal involvements.
Having either scored or assisted every 147 minutes on average in 2021-22, Tavernier is operating in the same sort of range as Rafael Leao (141), Dejan Kulusevski (144), Luis Suarez (153) and, incredibly, Sadio Mane (157).
Nahuel Molina, the highest-scoring defender in Europe's top five leagues, has scored just eight times, while even Trent Alexander-Arnold's leading goal involvements tally of 20 is dwarfed by the man playing north of the border.
Tavernier's status as Rangers' penalty taker boosts his numbers, of course, but he still has six goals and 22 goal involvements discounting his dozen efforts from 12 yards.
The standard of the competition in Scotland might also be counted against Tavernier, yet his 16 European appearances alone have yielded seven goals (three non-penalty goals), three assists and 10 goal involvements – again at a rate of one every 147 minutes.
Top marksman with Morelos missing
Tavernier's first goal involvement of this European campaign saw the Rangers captain lift a pass in behind the Alashkert defence for Alfredo Morelos to score what proved to be the decisive goal of their Europa League play-off, getting the then Scottish champions back on track after Champions League qualifying heartbreak.
Wednesday's final against Eintracht Frankfurt would not have been possible without that August example of this most effective assister-scorer combination.
Unfortunately, Rangers will not be able to rely on that link-up again this week, with Morelos ruled out for the season when he underwent thigh surgery last month, seemingly dealing a sizeable blow to his side's hopes of European glory.
Morelos, with 29 goals, is Rangers' all-time leading European marksman, while he this season also became their top scorer discounting qualifiers as he brought his total to 15.
"It is a big blow to us, because he is our striker and we now don't have him any more this season, so we are disappointed," manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst said.
"But we know what the problem is, how long he's out, and we have to move on. That's the only thing we have to do now."
Tavernier has since ensured the talismanic forward has not been missed. His seven goals are the most ever by a Rangers player in a European campaign (excluding qualifiers) – Morelos in 2019-20 had a share of the previous record of six – and remarkably make him the leading scorer in this season's Europa League.
The man for the big occasion, each of Tavernier's goals have come in the knockout stage, including opening the scoring in each of Rangers' four home legs.
When Kemar Roofe joined Morelos on the sidelines against RB Leipzig in the semi-finals, it was Tavernier who appeared in the centre-forward position to level the tie in Glasgow with his 15th European goal (10 excluding qualifiers).
Trent of the Europa League
The first of Tavernier's European goals came back in July 2018, by which point Alexander-Arnold had already played in a Champions League final for Liverpool.
Alexander-Arnold might be seven years Tavernier's junior, but he has been a source of inspiration in recent seasons for the Rangers skipper, who named him alongside Liverpool team-mate Andy Robertson and Brazil greats Dani Alves, Marcelo and Cafu in October 2020 as a standard-bearer in the full-back role.
And comparisons between the pair, both of whom are preparing for European finals, come easily.
Alexander-Arnold has created 19 chances in the Champions League this season, just behind Tavernier's 20 in the Europa League, with the pair each highly influential both in open play and from set-pieces.
Tavernier makes a long list of English right-backs who remain uncapped at international level due to the incredible competition in Gareth Southgate's Three Lions squad, and former Rangers captain Lorenzo Amoruso tells Stats Perform: "I showcased him in Italy, but nobody cared because, of course, it happened to me, too: the best player in Scotland, thanks to some unbelievable performances, but never a call for the national team.
"I think I deserved it – at least as a reward or out of curiosity. This Amoruso, as a defender, becomes the best player in Scotland... it is not something that happens every day. The same applies to Tavernier."
Yet even Alexander-Arnold has only turned out 16 times for England, clearly behind Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier and now Reece James in the pecking order.
The explanations for Alexander-Arnold's limited opportunities often focus on his defensive shortcomings – the same attributes for which Tavernier has come under scrutiny.
However, neither have committed an error leading to a shot, let alone a goal, in the Champions League or Europa League this season, and Tavernier actually measures favourably next to Alexander-Arnold by several defensive metrics.
Alexander-Arnold has made 1.9 tackles and 0.9 interceptions per 90 minutes to Tavernier's 1.6 tackles and 1.2 interceptions, but the Liverpool man has been dribbled past every 54 minutes on average and won only 48.2 per cent of his duels. Tavernier has been dribbled past every 150 minutes and won 56.3 per cent of his duels.
Those numbers will perhaps regress a little next season if Tavernier is playing in the Champions League, but he has to get there first by beating Frankfurt. And Rangers will likely be more concerned by their right-back's attacking output on Wednesday than his work going the other way.
Mbappe getting 'up to speed' with Real Madrid team-mates
Kylian Mbappe believes he is finally getting up to speed with his Real Madrid team-mates after scoring in a 3-0 LaLiga win at Leganes on Sunday.
Mbappe, who had played in a central attacking role since joining from Paris Saint-Germain, went four games without scoring in all competitions before netting the opener against Leganes.
The 25-year-old has come under scrutiny since his move, despite scoring eight goals in his opening 16 matches in all competitions, as he has not hit the free-scoring heights he showed while at PSG.
He scored his seventh league goal of the campaign after being moved back to his preferred position on the left, with Carlo Ancelotti saying after the game he was satisfied with the tactical shift.
Mbappe combined well with fellow attacker Vinicius Junior, who usually operates down that flank, as the Brazilian set up the goal.
"Vinicius and I read each other very well. I've got a great relationship with him, and he's a great player," Mbappe told Real Madrid TV after the win.
"I think I put in a good performance. I'm starting to get up to speed with my team-mates. I can play in every position, and I'm ready to help the team and give my all.
"It's the story of my career. I play on the right, on the left, in the middle and with two up top. It doesn't matter to me. I want to help the team and score goals."
Madrid are second in the league, four points behind Barcelona, who have played one game more. The leaders drew 2-2 at Celta Vigo on Saturday.
LA Galaxy 6-2 Minnesota United: Hosts through to Western Conference final with rout
LA Galaxy booked their place in the Western Conference final with a thumping 6-2 victory over Minnesota United at Dignity Health Sports Park.
It was a dream start for the Galaxy, who took just 27 seconds to break the deadlock – Gabriel Pec latched onto Riqui Puig's throughball before turning his marker to coolly slot past Dayne St. Clair.
Kelvin Yeboah restored parity five minutes later with a superb finish into the top corner, but Dejan Joveljic ensured they were not level for long, rising high to send a glancing header into the net.
Joseph Paintsil cushioned in a third at the far post in the 37th minute, though the Galaxy would only have a one-goal cushion at the break as Yeboah scored from the spot on the second attempt after John McCarthy had come off his line too early on the initial penalty.
Joveljic, who gave away Minnesota's spot-kick, rattled the woodwork moments after the break before Pec bagged his second with a strong finish in another quick start.
Jefferson Diaz received his first booking for fouling Pec in the penalty area, though the Brazilian saw his spot-kick saved, and got his marching orders five minutes later for catching Pec again with his elbow.
The Galaxy then rounded it off in style, with Paintsil curling it past St. Clair 86 minutes in before Joveljic got his second three minutes later to set up a home clash with Seattle Sounders on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Goals galore
The Galaxy scored nine goals in their first-round games against Colorado Rapids, and showed no signs of stopping against Minnesota either, as they extended their scoring run to 24 home games in MLS.
Pec's goal is the earliest they have scored last season, while it is the ninth time the 23-year-old has opened the scoring for Greg Vanney's side in the competition. In Pec and Joveljic, the Galaxy have two players currently on 19 goals for the campaign.
It is the first time LA Galaxy have scored six goals in a game since September 2019 against Sporting Kansas City (W7-2).
Mbappe position switch works wonders for Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti was satisfied his tactical decision to switch Kylian Mbappe's position in attack paid off in Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Leganes.
Mbappe scored his seventh goal of the season to help Madrid to a comfortable victory in LaLiga on Sunday.
However, his position in Madrid's front line has been a topic of debate since he joined the Spanish champions, with Mbappe having often played out wide while at Paris Saint-Germain.
And Ancelotti elected to switch Mbappe out to the left flank against Leganes, with Vinicius Junior spearheading Los Blancos' attack.
"Mbappe played on the left side, where he did well, and Vinicius on the inside," Ancelotti told reporters.
"We have to highlight their play to open the scoring. They did very, very well. Mbappe scored, after a fantastic assist from Vinicius. Little by little, they're both improving.
"Kylian is more used to playing there and today, for the team and for him, it was the best thing.
"Because playing on the outside brings more effort and Vinicius was back on Thursday. Meanwhile, Kylian had been training here for a week and a half, he was fresher."
Mbappe was not called up by France coach Didier Deschamps for this month's Nations League games, despite being Les Bleus' captain.
With an injury crisis at the back and a trip to Anfield to face Premier League and Champions League leaders Liverpool coming up, Ancelotti added he was hopeful of Lucas Vazquez, who has a hamstring strain, and Aurelien Tchouameni, who is recovering from a sprained left ankle, returning to action.
He was also upbeat about the contribution of Federico Valverde, who scored from a free-kick while filling in at right-back.
"The truth is that Fede, at the back, has done very well," said Ancelotti of the Uruguayan, who also wore the captain's armband.
"He's a fantastic fullback. After Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez, the best right-back in the world. His problem is that he can play at this level in many positions and is the coach's problem to choose the best position for the team.
"Let's see if Lucas and Tchouameni can recover. If not, we will make decisions."
Jude Bellingham netted Madrid's other goal as Ancelotti's team closed to within four points of LaLiga leaders Barcelona, who drew 2-2 with Celta Vigo on Saturday.
Madrid also have a game in hand on Hansi Flick's side.
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