Willy van de Kerkhof claims PSV should ‘finish off’ Rangers in Champions League decider
PSV Eindhoven legend Willy van de Kerkhof has claimed the Dutch side have “no right” to enter the Champions League group stages if they can’t beat “a team like Rangers”.
As reported by the Daily Record (23 August), the two-time World Cup finalist claimed that PSV were poor in the first leg at Ibrox and their mistakes were punished by Rangers.
However, despite his claims about his former side, he admits that PSV have no excuse and will “finish off” Rangers as they look to improve on their 2-2 outing on Tuesday (22 August).
As quoted by the Daily Record, van de Kerkhof said: “If PSV don’t qualify against a team like Rangers, then they have no right to be in the group stages of the Champions League.
“I think the fact they have the weekend off will help the players because they should never have lost two goals in Glasgow. They need to cut out the mistakes.
“PSV were punished for their mistakes by Rangers. They have a lack of quality defensively and they need reinforcements. But really they should be able to finish off Rangers next week at home. There is no excuse not to.”
Heating up
Rangers fans do not need a reason to get fired up about the upcoming Champions League decider, but van de Kerkhof’s rather arrogant comments could come back to bite him.
While on paper PSV may be slight favourites, the Gers’ solid performance against the Dutch outfits showed that they have the ability to go toe-to-toe with them.
The tie is finely poised. The second leg couldn’t have been set up better following the tight 2-2 thriller could not set up a more tense clash.
While confidence may be brewing among Rangers fans, the pressure is mounting on Michael Beale and his players to get a result and secure the coveted Champions League qualification.
However, the away leg can often be difficult, so the side will have to ensure solid defence while hoping that the new attacking recruits can truly announce themselves to the travelling fans on Wednesday.
Rangers fans may use van de Kerkhof’s comments to fire them up ahead of the Gers’ biggest game of the season so far.
In other Rangers news, the Gers could be set to lose a frustrated midfielder amid a transfer update.