James Tavernier to Equal Europa League Record: The Stats Behind a Rangers Great

James Tavernier is a modern day Rangers great and there is no doubting that fact.

The defender has turned out for the Ibrox club across an incredible 10 year period of time which is seriously uncommon in this day and age.

Being a footballer is a short career and players often forget their loyalties when the pay cheque on offer is larger than they are earning.

But Englishman Tavernier has seemingly valued competing for Scottish Premiership titles and playing in European competition on a regular basis over big bucks he could have earned over the years when clubs came sniffing.

The 34-year-old has some serious accolades to his name and is already a member of the Rangers Hall of Fame while he is now in testimonial territory.

James Tavernier to equal Europa League appearance record

Tavernier is also the highest-scoring British defender of all time with 136 goals in the light blue.

But the stats keep coming as he enters his 11th year in Glasgow and he does not look like slowing down as Gers compete on three fronts having been knocked out of the League Cup recently by rivals Celtic.

Tavernier will lead Rangers out in the Europa League on Thursday against Italian giants AS Roma and he will make history for the club as well as in the competition as a whole.

If manager Danny Rohl selects the right-back over the likes of Max Aarons to feature in Scotland, Tav will join illustrious company and be out in front of big-hitters in one certain category.

James Tavernier Europa League appearances

Tavernier’s trophy cabinet may not quite be as full as the Gers captain would like considering Celtic’s dominance over the past number of years.

However his individual haul of accolades and medals is enviable even to some of Europe’s biggest names.

The former Wigan and Newcastle United full-back has also turned out in big matches on the continent for Rangers since he arrived under Mark Warburton in 2015.

In fact, Tavernier has played an impressive 60 times in the Europa League for the club which is one fixture off the all-time record for one single club.

If he plays any minutes against Roma at Ibrox, Tav will equal that record and add yet another milestone to his already significant career.

Tavernier Rangers stats in Europe

If Tavernier makes his 61st outing in Europe’s second tier competition, he will take his total European nights to 105 appearances in all competitions.

That includes Champions League, Europa, Europa Conference League as well as qualifiers for all three.

The skipper has done good numbers in those games, too.

In the Champions League he may only have played six times but from right-back he has scored once against Ajax in a 3-1 defeat back in the 2022/23 campaign.

He has four goals and one assist in qualifying.

In the Europa League he has scored 10 goals and provided the same number of assists in his 60 outings and he can add to that this season with some luck and strong performances.

In qualifying he has notched five goals and chipped in with eight assists from 21 attempts.

That’s a grand total of 17 goals and 19 assists in European football across his time in Scotland.

He also captained Rangers to the Europa League Final in 2022 when they were narrowly beaten on penalties by Oliver Glasner’s Eintracht Frankfurt side.

Tav played 120 minutes that night for Gio van Bronckhorst and he scored his spot-kick in the shootout before his side were ultimately defeated.

Whose record does Tavernier equal?

Should Tavernier be given his 61st Europa League runout, he will equal one man’s record which has stood since February 2023.

Andreas Ulmer, 40, is now retired but he played a monumental 582 times for RB Salzburg throughout a 15 year career at the club.

The former Austrian left-back made 61 appearances in the Europa League for the club between 2009 when he made his first against Lazio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwWiiOOHcLs

Ironically, his final appearance in the tournament for Salzburg came against AS Roma two years ago where the Serie A club beat his side 2-0 in Rome.

Rangers take on the same outfit on Thursday and Tavernier will have the opportunity to replicate another football legend.

Rangers vs AS Roma

This season has been a dreadful one so far for Rangers and Tavernier, it has to be said.

The Ibrox side have played 10 games in the Scottish Premiership and won just three of them with six draws to their name under Russell Martin before he was sacked.

Gers had been all the way down in eighth before Rohl picked them up and they are now fourth in the division but a million miles away from league leaders Hearts who sit 14 points clear of them.

In the Europa League the story has not been much better as they are yet to win a game in the League Phase having lost 3-0 to Brann in Norway, 2-1 to Sturm Graz in Austria and 1-0 at home to Genk on matchday one.

Rangers are rock bottom of the table right now while their opponents, Roma, are not much better.

They sit 23rd on three points with Gian Piero Gasperini’s troops losing to Vitoria Plzen and Lille, beating only Nice so far.

Domestically the Romans are fourth in their own league – albeit a far more competitive one than Scotland’s top flight – on 21 points from 10 matches.

It should be an entertaining evening of action either way.