'I loved watching Dani Alves' - How Rangers captain Tavernier became Europe's deadliest defender

Rangers' unlikely run to the Europa League final is best epitomised by the story of their captain James Tavernier, a player who, on the face of things, has little right to be competing in such an event.

Written off by Newcastle after years spent in the limbo of the loan market at clubs such as Gateshead, Carlisle United, Sheffield Wednesday, MK Dons and Rotherham, he subsequently failed to make the grade in the Championship with Wigan.

And yet here the unheralded Englishman stands, potentially just 90 minutes away from lifting a trophy that established and future stars such as Erling Haaland, Gerard Pique and Christopher Nkunku have been chasing this season.

His move to Ibrox, which came shortly before his 24th birthday, has been the making of him, with his resurgence mimicking that of his club, which was cast to the bottom tier of the Scottish senior game in 2012 after going into liquidation.

There have been moments of adversity and doubt, of course, but he has overcome these to become a talisman for the Ibrox club.

That he scored the goal that sent the Gers back to the Premiership at the end of his first campaign was just a taste of what was to come, with the No.2 since becoming one of the most dangerous right-backs anywhere in Europe.

Indeed, he can perhaps lay claim to being the most prolific goal-scoring defender anywhere in top-level world football over the past 18 months.

Last term, for instance, he scored an incredible 19 goals - more than any other Rangers player - as Steven Gerrard led the club to the league title and denied Celtic 10-in-a-row.

Getty/GOAL

Any thoughts that was a fluke have been obliterated over the course of the present campaign.

With two matches of the season remaining - the Europa League final and Saturday's Scottish Cup final - he stands just a single goal short of matching his tally from last term. On top of this, he has 17 assists to his credit.

Even more remarkably, unless Frankfurt's Daichi Kamada bags a double in Wednesday's Seville showpiece, he will finish the Europa League as the competition's leading marksman.

"It sounds crazy," Tavernier told AirSports. "Obviously, I've had a few penalties and a few moments on the back post.

"It's one of those moments where I've always said I'm always there to help the team the best I can, whether it be the nil or for goals and assists."

It is all the more amazing that he has finished ahead of the likes of Nkunku and Victor Osimhen of RB Leipzig and Napoli, respectively, when it is considered that when these sides dropped into the Europa League from the Champions League, Tavernier was sitting on zero goals for the competition, having failed to net in the group stage.

Four have come from the penalty spot, but his most important strikes have come from open play.

His ability to get into goalscoring positions was typified by the manner in which he struck against RB Leipzig at Ibrox after 18 minutes to switch the momentum of the semi-final.

As Ryan Kent broke down the left, Tavernier anticipated the danger and stole in at the back post to score a tie-changing goal.

Such moments have become his trademark, and perhaps his sensational statistics are not so surprising, given Tavernier's heroes.

"I always looked at Marcelo or Dani Alves; they were my go-to guys, even Cafu," he told UEFA's official website.

"When I was much younger, I loved watching the Brazilians; how they played and how attacking they were.

"You look at how decorated Dani Alves is, and Marcelo; how they've been top of the game throughout their career. They're people that I really look up to. I always wanted to get on the scoresheet.

"You look at Trent Alexander-Arnold, at Reece James, at Dani Alves, at Marcelo, at Roberto Carlos… you see very attacking full-backs in the modern-day game now, players who are defenders not just to defend but you're also a main attacking point, whether that's creating crosses, assists or goals."

Although it has been Giovanni van Bronckhorst who has masterminded Rangers' Europa League run, Tavernier credits his stratospheric rise to previous manager Gerrard.

When the Liverpool legend left for Aston Villa, he said: "We've achieved so much together. We as a team have grown. We demanded more from one and another.

"But most importantly we've developed into better players and better people. The club is in a better place, of that I have no doubt."

Six months on, Rangers stand on the brink of their first European trophy in 50 years, with the players on the threshold of immortality.

Should they complete the job against Frankfurt in Seville, Tavernier's rise from lower league journeyman to all-time Gers great will be complete.