By Alistair Aird
Two matches. 180 minutes or 10,800 seconds (plus added time). That was all that stood between Rangers and a shot at the Champions League for the first time since the ill-fated six-losses campaign in season 2022/23. And this would be a first crack at the newly-expanded format that enjoyed its debut year last season.
Standing in their way was an old foe from the inaugural year of the competition. Rangers faced Club Brugge twice in March 1993, drawing 1-1 in Belgium and famously winning 2-1 at Ibrox a fortnight later.
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In the latter match, Rangers led by virtue of a sublime Ian Durrant goal – the midfielder slid in a perfect finish after being picked up by a superb slide-rule pass from Trevor Steven – before Mark Hateley was controversially ordered off just before half time. Lorenzo Staelens restored parity early in the second 45, but Rangers would eke out the win with one of the most remarkable goals in their history.
Trevor Steven looked to fashion an opportunity by crossing into the box from the right wing. His delivery struck the back of Stuart McCall and the ball spun in the direction of Scott Nisbet. Nisbet, who discusses the goal and myriad other moments from his life in his forthcoming autobiography, Red, White and True which will be released next month, was playing at right back, but found himself in an advanced position. He swung his right foot at the ball, nicking in just ahead of the Club Brugge defender Stephan van der Heyden. But the ball arced up into the air off the boot of van der Heyden, the man who assist Phillipe Clement during his tenure as Rangers manager, and dropped out of the night sky. When it landed inside the six-yard box, the bounce was wicked and the Brugge goalkeeper, Danny Verlinden, was deceived. The ball ended up in the net and Ibrox was in raptures.
Ultimately, the victory would be in vain. A draw against Marseille in France and a stalemate at home against CSKA Moscow wasn’t sufficient to grant Rangers a place in the Final against AC Milan. Marseille progressed and a goal from future Ranger Basile Boli earned them a 1-0 win.
The rise of the Champions League since the two sides crossed swords over 30 years ago has been stratospheric. The ambitions of Rangers at this elite level have altered significantly too. Back then, there was a genuine belief that Rangers could win the competition. Nowadays that is fanciful. The cash chasm that exists means that sights have been lowered and that dose of realism means that qualification for the group stages alongside the cash-rich European aristocrats is now deemed the benchmark for the club at this level.
Not many in attendance would have expected this evolving Rangers squad to be in this position when Russell Martin was appointed some seven weeks ago. The appointment drew several skeptical comments, with apathy the order of the day. In fairness, recent domestic displays have done little to shift that, with the jury very much still out when it comes to Martin and his coaching philosophy.
But of the eight games contested thus far, the two European ties at Ibrox have been the ones that have shone through. Wins over Panathinaikos and Viktoria Plzen laid the foundations to get to this stage and the fans, who gave the teams a raucous reception when they emerged from the tunnel, gathered for this one hoping for more of the same. Their desire was to see more of the vibrant forward play that had been apparent in those matches while crossing their fingers that the calamitous defending that has been on show domestically would be conspicuous by its absence this time around.
Having made 10 changes for what in the end was a comfortable win over Alloa Athletic at the weekend, Martin’s XI was along more familiar lines for this one. In the absence of the injured Cyriel Dessers, Danilo led the line while captain James Tavernier once again warmed the bench. Max Aarons took his place at right back and there was a debut at left back for the recently acquired Jayden Meghoma.
Unfortunately, the mission to eradicate the dreadful defending was one that the Rangers defence refused to accept. Hesitancy between Nasser Djiga and Jack Butland allowed Romeo Vermant to advance and lift the ball over Butland. And minutes later, it was 2-0. Jorne Spileers was the man on the mark this time, finding himself unmarked when a corner kick fell in his vicinity. The roars of encouragement had subsided, replaced with boos and catcalls with the game barely seven minutes old. And you could completely understand the frustrations of the fans.
Rangers were in disarray, ragged and disjointed. Brugge smelt blood. The hiding that some had predicted was inevitable if the defensive deficiencies weren’t addressed looked very much on the cards.
There was no let up. The Belgian visitors flooded forward, creating angst and anxiety in the fragile Rangers backline every time they advanced on Butland’s goal. A series of corners came to nothing, and it was a feeling of ‘when’ not ‘if’ Brugge would score again. And sure enough, after 19 minutes, Brandon Mechele thundered in a shot from the edge of the area that left Butland grasping at thin air.
The goal was the tipping point for some supporters who decided they had seen enough and left the stadium. The credit in the bank from those previous qualifying matches had been evaporated. This Rangers side and the Head Coach were now overdrawn and rapidly moving into the red.
Joe Rothwell went close to reducing the arrears with a free kick that whistled past the post. Gassama then motored to the by-line, but his pull back didn’t find a blue jersey. It was better, but then again, it couldn’t have been much worse.
After 31 minutes, a scrappy period of play ended with Gassama curling a shot wide of the far post. But there still little fluency in Rangers’ play and there was a compelling argument that they were enjoying a spell on the ascendancy as Brugge had taken their foot off the gas. And when they did put the pedal to the metal again, it was almost 4-0, Butland having to stoop low to his right after 38 minutes to paw away an attempt from Carlos Forbs.
Danilo, who was only in the team due to injury to Dessers and the lack of fitness of Igamane, was even more ineffectual that he has been in his other appearances this season. He once more provided no threat, registering 10 touches and one shot at goal in the opening 45 minutes. Only one of his 10 touches was inside the box too. Of the seven passes he made, six were accurate. Possession had been surrendered twice. The rationale was that we would see the best of the £6 million Brazilian when he was injury-free and had a full pre-season under his belt. That’s not been the case and this match further reinforced the need to secure a centre forward before the window closes. And that’s just to ensure that Rangers pose a goal threat domestically never mind in European competition.
It would have come as no surprise had Danilo been kept inside at the interval. That was how ineffectual he had been. Yet within five minutes of the restart, he suddenly made a telling contribution.
After such an abysmal first half, it was imperative that Rangers got off to a fast start in the second 45, and they did just that. Meghoma, one of few who had impressed up to this point, fired in a low cross from the left and Danilo slid in to prod the ball beyond Simon Mignolet.
The goal initially seemed to light the blue touchpaper. There was verve and vigour about Rangers. They were pressing high, putting sustained pressure on the Brugge rearguard for the first time in the match. Rothwell’s shot spiralled into the air after it was blocked and the fans were whipped up into a frenzy once again. Having come back from 2-0 down in the recent friendly, could Rangers eradicate a three-goal deficit here?
But Brugge weren’t simply going to sit back and take a pounding. They still offered a threat going forward – not difficult against a dire and disorganised defence – and Butland again had to be on his toes to dip down to his left and parry away a header that threatened to creep in at his near post.
Martin readied his first changes of the evening on the hour mark. Igamane and Thelo Aasgaard were pitched in, with Danilo and Diomande, who had once again disappointed, making way.
Igamane, subject to an offer from Lille, was soon in the thick of the action, bobbing and weaving down the right and beating a couple of players with some nice skill. But, chasing goals to regain a foothold in the tie, Rangers needed the Moroccan in a more central role. When he did get himself there, he was guilty of being over-elaborate when he could perhaps have got a shot away on the edge of the box.
Butland had to pull off another save on 68 minutes when Brugge broke down the left. This was a note of caution that needed to be heeded. A back door that had been wide open in the opening 20 minutes needed to remain bolted firmly shut if Rangers had any aspirations to rescue the tie.
Another double change came from Rangers shortly afterwards. James Tavernier replaced Meghoma – the captain was deployed at left back too – and Mikey Moore, who had enjoyed a promising debut against Alloa replaced the anaemic Antman. The Finn had caught the eye against Plzen, but this wasn’t one of his better days at the office.
Moore’s first involvement was to jink into a shooting position and fizz in a rising shot that cleared the crossbar before Souttar, who had been ponderous once again, was cautioned for tugging back his man. Aarons, who also flattered to deceive, then followed the burly Scotsman into the book.
After 76 minutes, Tavernier cut back on to his right foot and sent in a dipping cross that found no takers in blue. Aasgaard then did well to keep the ball in and cut it back into the six-yard box where Igamane was crowded out. There was some huff and puff but no signs that the Brugge house was going to be blown down.
But then came what looked like the all-important second goal. Gassama jinked his way along the by-line and his shot squirmed into the net. A VAR review followed, and the referee was called to the screen. There is usually only one outcome when that happens and sure enough, the goal was ruled out for an infringement. The officials deemed that Mignolet had both hands on the ball. The deficit was two goals once more.
Igamane was denied by Mignolet as the match entered the closing stages. Rangers had been much improved in an attacking sense after the break, and you felt that a second goal could still be eked out. Gassama forced a corner when his shot was blocked, and Moore then saw his cross clutched by Mignolet.
Lyall Cameron would be the fifth and final change for Rangers when he replaced Rothwell for the final five minutes. And his first involvement was to set up an attack that ended when Moore’s cross was headed away at the near post.
After the fourth official revealed there would be five minutes stoppage time, another slaloming run from Gassama forced a corner. Tavernier’s delivery was dreadful, though. A surging run from Raskin was the precursor for a move that forced another corner. When the ball was delivered, it broke to Igamane who took a fresh air swipe at it. And that was the last real opportunity for Rangers to carve out a goalscoring opportunity.
The Champions League theme tune, Zadok The Priest, blared out of the sound system ahead of this one. But for an unlikely series of events, it will be the last time that it fills the skies around Ibrox this season. You simply cannot legislate for defending of the sort witnessed in the opening seven minutes of this game and expect to dine at the top table with the European elite. Perhaps we should be grateful for small mercies. Brugge could, and probably should, have feasted on more goals in that abysmal opening half hour.
The Europa League group stages beckon now. Thursday nights are historically Rangers nights, but it is difficult to see them being so unless there is a seismic shift in what we have witnessed of late. Defensive fragility and attacking impotence do not provide a recipe for success at any level.
It was another night that fell into the ‘pain’ category. It will Martin assures us be ‘so worth it’ when it all blossoms. But a headstrong Head Coach who stubbornly sticks to his style of play coupled with a group of players that don’t seem to be able to adapt to it and implement it suggests that the garden will not be rosy any time soon.