Valiant but vulnerable - how Rangers escaped heat of Athens with hope

BBC News

30-07-2025

When the final whistle blew on a blisteringly hot Athens night where Rangers had at points been both tremendously valiant and desperately vulnerable, Russell Martin's side had ultimately got what they came for.When the draw for the Champions League second round qualifier threw up Panathinaikos, it looked the most hazardous of first steps to the league phase, and Rangers rode their luck from all the way from Glasgow to Greece.And yet while they have some Greek wastefulness and Jack Butland heroics to thank for their passage into the next round, the character demonstrated by a team in the early days of an overhaul by the new head coach was to be admired as they drew 1-1 on the night to progress 3-1 on aggregate.Martin had asked his players to be resilient in the face of the Panathinaikos onslaught, and while other areas of their game would have been concerning, they delivered that in spades."We will get better. The group will grow so much from this," Martin said after the game. That's his challenge now, to add the quality to the foundations of the character his team has shown over these two testing encounters."That's the big thing for me with Russell Martin, is that he thrives on the training ground," former Rangers goalkeeper Cammy Bell said on BBC Sportsound."The longer he has with his players, the better they will get."This Rangers team showed a bit of character. It's all positive at the moment, they just need to keep this momentum going."
'That's how you build a team'
Djeidi Gassama will steal the headlines after his second stunning, and vital, goal in as many games. The hosts had just gone in front on the night as VAR eventually realised Filip Duricic was onside when he headed by Butland. The Rangers dam had finally been burst, and there was still plenty time left in the clock to overhaul Rangers' shrinking aggregate lead.However, Gassama popped up three minutes after coming on and seven minutes after that opener to slash a ferocious shot in off the post to halt the hosts' momentum.Despite his impact, though, few embodied that Rangers team spirit better than John Souttar, who stood tall at the heart of the defence when the Greek side were threatening to tear Rangers apart."That's how you build a team, coming through those tough moments," Souttar told BBC Scotland."It shows our mentality. There are going to be times things don't go our way. We've got [Butland] to thank because he was excellent again."We could have been better on the ball but it's a new team and that's a big win for us."
'Style of play seems like it's not really working'
That failure to look after the ball was a recurring theme across the two legs. Time and again in the first-halves of both legs, Rangers players gave up possession cheaply.They were fortunate not be punished against Panathinaikos, but as they progress through the qualifying rounds and to, they hope, the Champions League league phase, such sloppiness simply has to be ironed out of their game."If Gassama hadn't scored then, I think Rangers could have potentially conceded the game because at that point they were all over the place still and Panathinaikos were still dominant," said former Rangers striker Peter Lovenkrands on Sportsound."Rangers don't really have time. The style of play right now, seems like it's not really working right now. That needs to be tidied up before the next round."That next round will see Rangers up against the Czech side Viktoria Plzen. Another tough test, and one in which Martin's side will need to be better."You would anticipate they are probably weaker opponents than Panathinaikos, but if Rangers play like they've played over the two ties, they're going to make it difficult for themselves," said former Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday."Rangers are a work in progress and will definitely improve on what they've shown over the two legs."There are a lot of things for them to work on and new faces will help as well."