Shoddy, shabby & not good enough - but Rangers do what they need to

Rangers have ridden their luck in the Champions League qualifiers but have ultimately been good enough to reach the play-off round

Its better to be lucky than good.

An old adage which sums up Rangers run in the qualifiers of the Champions League so far rather neatly.

The good news is they are now just two games - or one tie - away from the league phase, with just Club Brugge of Belgium standing in their way.

Making it to the play-off round is arguably overachievement in itself, given the tricky draw away against Panathinaikos in the last round and a squad being rebuilt under a new head coach.

But Russell Martin himself is under no illusion about the scale of the improvements needed.

You do not have to trawl through advanced statistics to work out Rangers have had their goalkeeper Jack Butland and some terrible profligacy from their opponents to thank in their two ties so far.

"We have a lot to work on, but were through," Martin told BBC Scotland.

"Both goals are outrageous and we have to defend better, but we defend more than we should have because we are sloppy with the ball."

It was obvious why Martin was unhappy. In Plzen, Rangers conceded 27 shots, a staggering 21 of them coming from inside their penalty area.

As a result, the Czech side ended with an expected goals rating of 3.31, with Butland making eight saves, with the one to deny Prince Adu truly world class.

Given Rangers impressive first-leg performance, a one-off poor display with a comfortable 3-0 aggregate lead could be forgiven given the end result.

But early in the season, it has been a pattern. Rangers have conceded 97 shots in their six games so far, an average of 16 per game.

Had Plzen, Panithinaikos, Motherwell, or even Dundee been more clinical then it could easily be a different story in this nascent campaign.

"Plzen had four 100% chances and took one of them - and they all came from Rangers mistakes," former Rangers midfielder Ian McCall said on Sportsound.

"They were shoddy and shabby, but the name of the game is getting into the next round.

"Theres an awful lot of money at stake, and theyll have a chance. But theyll need to defend a lot better in terms of not giving the ball away in dangerous areas."

Rangers pass map shows how they struggled to get the ball into forward areas

Rangers inability to keep the ball and move it up the pitch, instead gifting it back to Plzen, was something Martin picked out too.

"There were some good moments we didnt make the most of, but Im disappointed with the number of shots and chances they have and most of it is self-inflicted," the Rangers head coach added.

"Our level of quality on the ball and decision making wasnt good enough."

Wingers Oliver Antman and Djeidi Gassama, so influential in the first-leg victory, were hardly in the game before being substituted in the second half. Mainly, because Rangers could not get the ball to them.

Their biggest passing combinations on the night were between Butland and his two centre-backs.

Things kept breaking down before it could get near the wide duo, with striker Cyriel Dessers not receiving a single pass from a central midfielder before going off with a bad-looking injury after the break.

Other than going through, the big positive on the night was Lyall Cameron grabbing his first Rangers goal, capping off a solid individual performance.

Butlands form is also a big plus given his struggles in the second half of last season and, with despite the obvious flaws, Rangers have found a knack of coming up with big goals in Europe regardless of the momentum in games.

However, that is not a sustainable recipe for success in European footballs premier competition.

Club Brugge will undoubtedly be a step up. Last season they reached the last 16 of the Champions League, eventually losing to Aston Villa.

The teams shared a 2-2 draw at Ibrox in pre-season, so there will be a degree of familiarity, as much as a friendly can replicate competitive action.

"If Rangers were playing against a better quality of team, even with the 3-0 lead, this game could have gone to extra-time or they could have lost it," former Rangers striker Steven Thompson said on Sportsound.

"They cannot afford to play like that against Brugge. You can guarantee theyre not going to be missing those types of gifts."

Rangers were not good. Against a better team, this could have gone to extra time

12/08/25

Andy C: Its grim watching. So many times the Gers gave the ball away under self-inflicted pressure. Souttar and Butland seem to be the only two who know what theyre doing.

Graham: How long is it going to take for the players to adapt to the new "style of play" before the fans lose faith? Because right now I see no improvements at all, if anything the last few games Ive watched has been the worst watch in years.

Ray: All that matters is they are through thats it. If they play as badly against Brugge and go through thats all that matters as well. You need good players to play Martins system and the extra money may well help him in that quest.

Brian: Another woefully poor performance from this team - I honestly dont know what is going on under Martin and I fear that its not going to end well and will only set the club back even further. Sloppy defending and wasteful on the counter.

Florentina: A lot of negative comments as usual with Rangers, but were through to the next round. People also forget, that if it wasnt for our efforts in Europe the last few years, where would Scotlands coefficient be? Well done Rangers.

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