Adefunmiloye Alani

Tue 17 August 2021 19:30, UK

Rangers have missed out on the chance to play in the group stages of the Champions League, and Charlie Nicholas has insisted they are not a great team.

The Ibrox outfit lost 2-1 in each of their third qualifying round fixtures against Malmo, and will now look to scale through the Europa League play-offs against Alashkert.

Failure to qualify for the elite European competition means Rangers have missed out on a huge financial boost, and Nicholas believes they got ahead of themselves.

The Sky Sports pundit wrote in his Daily Express column (via The Scottish Sun): “I just worry Rangers might have got caught up in assuming they would bank millions from the Champions League this season and that they would keep getting stronger.

“That is a lazy way of thinking and I have criticised Celtic for that in the past. There’s no doubt Gerrard’s reputation has taken a bit of a kicking after their Champions League defeat to the 10-man Swedes last week. The exit was a wake-up call because this is not a great Rangers team and the 4-2 aggregate defeat proved that some people have been getting carried away with them.

Gerrard can’t afford to get caught up in all the noise. His side are now back in the Europa League and that is the level they are at as a club. They won’t catch up on Celtic off the pitch until they reach the group stage of the Champions League, so winning this season’s title is key to everything Gerrard and Rangers are trying to achieve.”

Blow

Everyone associated with Celtic wants us to fail badly, and Nicholas would surely have lapped up the results against the Swedes.

Rangers blew every team in the land away last term, ending the campaign without a defeat in the Scottish Premiership, leaking just 13 goals and keeping 26 clean sheets.

That is nothing but a hallmark of greatness, and saying otherwise is not logical.

We agree that our start to the new campaign has been disappointing after that painful elimination, but it takes nothing away from what we achieved last season.

Had Rangers bagged a spot in the Champions League group stages this term, we would surely have banked millions and it would have made our squad stronger without a doubt.

Failure to do that has given Nicholas the chance to rub it in, and Hoops legends and supporters are not going to stop talking about it this season.

That should fuel our motivation and desire to retain the title, and winning both the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup alongside it would be sweet.

In other Rangers news, Bears man drops six-word hint about Ibrox future on social media.