John Souttar insists Rangers have belief they can turn Club Brugge tie around
A 3-1 first leg to Club Brugge at Ibrox means the play-off is very much in the hands of the Belgians, and Rangers would need victory by two goals even to force extra time in the tie.
That's a tough task against a side who reached the last 16 of the Champions League last year. Souttar admits Rangers' first half showing on Tuesday, where they lost three goals in the first 20 minutes, was unacceptable but says they can take heart from a better performance after the break and that the tie is certainly not over.
'There is the belief,' the defender said.
'We have had big results in Europe away from home in the last few years so there is that belief but there is no point in saying it, we have to show it next week.'
Reflecting on that dismal start to a huge game, Souttar said they had been stunned by early mistakes. Nasser Djiga made the wrong call to let Romeo Vermant run through on goal and lift a cool finish over a stranded Jack Butland after just three minutes and things went from bad to worse when Jorner Spillers scored after Christos Tzolis' corner.
Brandon Mechele scored the third goal of an explosive start when he fired in a tremendous shot from outside the box after just twenty minutes.
Souttar believes the reaction was good after the break but that the damage had been done.
'In the first half, I think we've actually shot ourselves in the foot,' the Scotland international said. 'How we started, when you give away goals that we did. I mean it makes any game difficult, but especially a game like that when there's so much at stake and when you're playing a team of that quality.
'Second-half, we were a bit better, obviously made them a bit more uncomfortable, but first half the damage was done
'I think you can plan for anything, but you can't plan for losing two goals like that. Especially on an occasion like that. It was up to us to to react and we did a bit second-half, but we got the goal back.
'We've got to go there next week and give everything and see what happens.'
Rangers were booed off at half-time, and Souttar said that the early setbacks has robbed the side of the noisy backing that can be a huge positive on big nights at Ibrox.
'When we have had good European nights, Ibrox is a place where opposition teams don't feel comfortable and I think we gave them that comfort.
'So if you give teams that comfort, it is a lot easier for them to play out from the back and take that pass, that risk, be more relaxed, and we give them that luxury.
'And it's important when you have European games here that we get the crowd on our side, we make them uncomfortable, that is one of our biggest assets.
'So you see what happens when we don't do that.'
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The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
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