Legendary striker smashes Europa League record to set up tantalising Rangers grudge match

The striker for Marseille, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, is now the all-time leading scorer in the Europa League and may soon have Rangers in his sights.

The 34-year-old Gabonese forward moved one spot over the illustrious Colombian forward Radamel Falcao in the scoring lists with his 31st goal in the UEFA Europa League.

The former striker for Dortmund, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Barcelona equalised for Marseille in the first half of their Europa League playoff matchup with Shakthar Donetsk.

The French proceeded to win the match 3-1 and advance 5-3 overall.

With his thirty-first Europa goal, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang moves one spot clear of Falcao, followed by Aritz Aduriz (26), Romelu Lukaku (26), and Munnas Dabbur (24).

Marseille vs. Rangers might be a Europa League revenge match.
Rangers may soon play Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang if Marseille wins Thursday afternoon’s Round of 16 match in Switzerland.

The Ibrox club is excited to see the results of the Europa League draw, and the Ligue 1 team is one of eight possible participants.

A possible tie with Marseille would potentially have an advantage because of what happened in the first Champions League season in 1992–93.

Marseille defeated Rangers by a close margin in their group to get to the final against AC Milan, which the French team won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Basile Boli.

Nevertheless, after being found guilty of match-fixing and bribery, the French team was stripped of their Ligue 1 trophy that season and barred from participating in UEFA play for a year.

Supporters have long taken issue with a dubious 6-0 victory over CSKA Moscow during the group stages, and Mark Hateley has stated he was paid to withdraw from the competition.

Alfredo Morelos or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang?

Rangers supporters may be perplexed as to where Alfredo Morelos, who has 32 goals in the Europa League, is listed on this list as the Colombian is frequently mentioned as the third-best scorer in the league.

However, goals scored during the Europa League’s group stages or knockout stages—not during the competition’s qualifying—are the only ones included in the final total.

Less than half of Aubameyang’s goals—34 throughout the official competition and qualifying—have come from goals scored by Alfredo Morelos during the competition’s group stages.

The final list also only counts goals scored in the Europa League, not in the UEFA Cup, the competition’s previous iteration. Henrik Larsson, a legend from Celtic, also has 31 goals in the tournament proper (for a total of 40 goals).

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