| Venue: Anfield Stadium, Liverpool Date: Tuesday October 4th time: 20:00 CET |
| Cover: Hear live commentary from ` Radio 5 or ` Radio Scotland Extra and follow it live on the ` Sport website and app |
The numbers are an indication of how tough the outstanding club competition of a school in Europe really is.
In 17 Europa League games last season, Rangers conceded 16 goals, averaging 0.94 per game. In two Champions League group stage games this season, they have given up seven out of two, a 3.5 average.
Of course, any Rangers supporter will tell you there’s a caveat to the numbers, and they’d be right. Three of the seven came when they were reduced to 10 men last time out in Ibrox against Napoli, a game Rangers were able to keep up well until James Sands was sacked.
Still, it’s been a predictably tough reintroduction to Champions League football, with another deliciously dangerous game set to take place in Liverpool on Tuesday.
A distance of 220 miles separates Ibrox from Anfield but Rangers have been on a far greater journey than this in recent years. No one should lose sight of where this club came from, a financial basket, a team routinely humiliated by their closest rivals, a string of owners and directors who have damaged the club and infuriated fans. For a long time they were immersed in darkness.
Steven Gerrard won a league, Giovanni van Bronckhorst a cup, almost the Europa League and took them to the Champions League. Where they previously had no player trading model, they now have one, with Nathan Patterson, Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey getting out for significant money. After a decade of multi-million pound operating losses, they are now nearing self-sufficiency.
This is the greatest victory they have won, defeating the chaos that has brought the place to its knees. As a ranger, however, more and more is required.
“We’ve seen two sides of Rangers this season”
Just as it’s hard to know what to think of Jurgen Klopp’s team at the moment – a team struggling to find themselves – the same could be said of Van Bronckhorst’s side.
They remain an oddity, good enough to beat Borussia Dortmund and Leipzig and win just one penalty against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final last season, but unpredictable enough to drop points in 11 league games.
How is it possible to concede three goals in 300 minutes against Eintracht and Leipzig in a European final and semifinals and three against Celtic in 45 minutes and three against Ross County in 90 minutes? This season, too, we’ve seen Rangers’ twin personalities.
They suffered an unfortunate loss in a 2-0 away defeat by Union Saint-Gilloise in a Champions League qualifier before turning things around with a 3-0 win in the second leg. They were unreliable in the 2-2 draw with Hibernian at Easter Road but went to Eindhoven with wonderful determination and beat PSV 1-0, the win that earned them a place in the Champions League.
They were blown away 4-0 in La Liga by Celtic and lost 4-0 at Ajax in total shock. To say that the 3-0 defeat by Napoli was an improvement might seem strange, but it was so.
Sands went on foot in the 55th minute when it was scoreless. Napoli scored in the 68th, 85th and 90th minutes. Nobody questioned Ranger’s stomach for that night’s fight like they did after Amsterdam.
And now they travel to Anfield after a superb performance against Hearts at Tynecastle – not always a place for the faint of heart.
“Rangers must be everything they can be”
What can we expect from them on Tuesday? Without knowing what attitude they will emerge with it’s impossible to say but if they are all they can be they could give Liverpool an awkward night.
Allan McGregor in goal is as old as the hills – well, 40. He waved goodbye to Rangers fans last season but he’s back with the team now and he was excellent. Almost nine years ago he scored for Hull against Liverpool in the Premier League. Liverpool had Gerrard, Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling. Hull won 3-1.
The Rangers defense has vacillated between composed and unhappy this season. Bassey was a great loss. The injuries to John Souttar and Filip Helander have also hurt them.
Ben Davies brought his Rangers back with a win at Hearts at the weekend and could face his old club at Anfield
Ben Davies, signed from Liverpool, started alongside Connor Goldson at Tynecastle and did well. Ranger people have been dying to see more of him, and now they sure will. In terms of Scottish football, he was an expensive recruit over the summer at around £4million.
During their league-winning season and progression to the Europa League final, so much of Rangers’ threat came down the flanks from Borna Barisic and captain James Tavernier in particular. His goal tally – an astounding performance as top scorer in the Europa League with seven and 18 in all competitions – has dried up. He has three including two penalties.
Given what Liverpool have way out there, Tavernier and Barisic are vital to Rangers’ prospects. Both can be defensively suspect and both can be quite inspiring. Which will it be?
Van Bronckhorst misses Tom Lawrence, former Derby captain. As a summer newcomer, he is one of the few who really get off to a flying start. Steven Davis, 37 and one of the best pros to ever wear the blue jersey, started against Napoli and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he starts again on Tuesday.
The first time Davis played against Liverpool was for Aston Villa. To give you an idea of how long ago that was, Chris Kirkland, Antonio Nunez and Neil Mellor were in the Liverpool team. Davis is cool yet classy. He remains an important player.
Tuesday is a night all these lads will need to deliver if Rangers are to have a chance, a night when Ryan Kent, another returning to his old club, will need to support himself.
Kent has talent, but his final product has been sad for too long. He showed form against Hearts over the weekend, scoring one goal and assisting another, but he hasn’t done enough of it. It was his first league goal since last December.
Rangers struggled on the right side of their central forward. Ianis Hagi, the son of the great Gheorghe, has a long-term injury and they’ve thrown player after player into that position and none have stuck.
In previous seasons, Alfredo Morelos – El Bufalo – would have been a attacker to start through the middle but fitness and discipline issues haunt him. Antonio Colak, the tall Croatian, is very much the man now. With 11 goals in his 14 games since joining from PAOK in the summer, he’s been a great signing.
Rangers fans might see this as a free hit, a game no one expects to get anything from – and they’d be right.
What matters is how the players see it. Last season they were written off in many places on their way to near fame. In that sense at least, if not in the thin air of the Champions League, they’re in familiar territory.
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