Edwin van der Sar in awe of Ibrox ahead of Rangers-Ajax clash
Rangers welcome Ajax to Ibrox on Tuesday (1 November) hoping to secure their first points of the Champions League group stage.
In the reverse fixture at the Johan Cruyff ArenA, the Dutch champions hit the Light Blues with force in a rousing 4-0 win where Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side were blown away.
Since then, Ajax have lost all four matches against Liverpool and Napoli, as have Rangers, meaning they can’t qualify for the knockout rounds and have to ensure they don’t lose 5-0 to go into the Europa League.
Rangers. meanwhile, will have to rely on the fortress of Ibrox to bring them the edge they need to leave the Champions League with some pride by beating the Dutch side in the final match of the phase.
Ajax director of football and former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was taken aback by Ibrox, saying “Always special playing in stadiums with a lot of history! Great to be in Glasgow to play tomorrow vs Rangers in the Champions League,” via his personal Twitter account.
12th man
This was always going to be, realistically, the best chance Rangers will have to win a game in what was a very tough group so they have to give it their all.
A 5-0 win to enter the Europa League might be a stretch too far in all honesty despite the possibility but the performances previously suggest it is not going to happen.
Despite that, this is the last Champions League game Rangers fans will get to watch at Ibrox this season and who knows what might happen next year with all Scottish sides underperforming in Europe this season.
Every Bears fan has to make the most of this with such uncertainty surrounding the near future so expect Ibrox to be even louder than usual to wave goodbye to the continent’s premier club competition.
With that extra-loud support behind them, van Bronckhorst’s side might just have enough to get a result against Ajax who, let’s not forget, have recently been to the semi-finals of this competition and were moments away from the final.
In other Rangers news, there are injury concerns for van Bronckhorst ahead of the game with this senior player missing training on Monday (31 October).