Simon Jordan: Rangers could get zero points in their Champions League group
Simon Jordan wouldn’t be surprised if Rangers ended the Champions League group stages with no points after their loss to Liverpool on Tuesday night.
The Gers were beaten 2-0 by Jurgen Klopp’s side at Anfield, making it no points and no goals scored in the first three group games after losses to Ajax and Napoli earlier in the season.
While speaking on talkSPORT [5 October, 10:15am], Jordan told his co-host Jim White that the £30m the club received was enough to make the entry into the competition worthwhile but insisted they’re just not good enough to compete at this level yet.
“I said from the outset that I would be unsurprised if they didn’t achieve a single point,” he said.
“It was tremendous achievement of getting to a final last year.
“They got into the Champions League even as a result of losing that final, and I think that is great for them as it didn’t allow Celtic to get a commercial advantage. The reality of it was that it was always going to be a very tall order.
“They are not experienced at that level and they have been away from it for some time. It’s almost flabbergasting to be believe Rangers and Liverpool have never played one another.
“The bottom line is they are going to go out of this group now, undeniably. It’s whether they can get a point out of it.
“They don’t want the indignation of not getting a single point, but I think that’s highly likely. If Napoli turn up vaguely resembling like they did against Ajax they will do the same against Rangers.
“These are big football clubs. Ajax are a big football club and they got their heads handed to them by Napoli.
“Liverpool have played in big games so won’t be phased by Ibrox however big and noisy it. Rangers have got into the Champions League and got £30m odd.”
Reality
As much as Jordan talks rubbish a lot of the time and his views are contorted from reality, it’s hard to argue that he’s spot on about this one.
The Rangers squad was built perfectly for a Europa League run last year and after making it to the Champions League with a shock win over PSV Eindhoven they should have further strengthened.
Instead though the club didn’t act and have gone into the season this year with arguably a squad that many would consider as weaker after losing Joe Aribo, Calvin Bassey and Leon Balogun.
The money they’ve received for getting this far will ensure the gap between themselves and Celtic remains at what it was, and they can still push on and really challenge for the title domestically.
But the performances in Europe this season show how far they still have to go to become one of the elites on the continent, and unfortunately it allows Jordan to do his fair bit of boasting in the meantime.
In other Rangers news, this Rangers hero was “surprised” by one GvB decision against Liverpool