John Lundstram out to ‘put right’ Champions League disappointment at Rangers in Europa League
John Lundstram has admitted that he and his Rangers teammates are looking to “put right” their recent Champions League disappointments in the Europa League.
Under the management of Giovanni Van Bronckhorst last season, the Light Blues qualified for the group stages of the Champions League but failed to win a single point in their group, while Michael Beale failed to guide his side through qualifying earlier this season.
That means that the Gers will once again be plying their trade in Europe’s second competition and ahead of their opening game against Real Betis, Lundstram has admitted he wants to right the wrongs of the last few seasons.
Speaking to Sky Sports (21 September) he said: “It’s one we want to try and put right, it hurt us the Champions run last year.
“It hurt everyone involved with the club. It was a massive high qualifying for the Champions League, to not put in the performances we would have liked to do ourselves justice, it hurt.
“So to get back on the European campaign and redo what we done the year before last in the Europa League would be great. The Europa League does give us the chance to try and progress into the latter stages, there’s no reason why we can’t.”
Put it right
Rangers owe their fans some performances in Europe as the the trip to the Europa League final in 2021 couldn’t feel much further away after the club’s recent struggles on the continent. This team is allegedly Champions League-ready but has failed to show that at all on the pitch.
The players and the manager now know that they are likely playing for their futures at Ibrox and while some will say Beale should have been sacked following the failure to reach the Champions League group stage, or after losing the Old Firm derby, he’s been given the chance to put it right in Europe.
But the standard of performance will have to be higher than anything we’ve seen from the Light Blues so far this season if they want to progress into the latter rounds of the competition as Lundstram has suggested. He knows what it takes to make it to the final of this competition and he’ll have to be a leader in that dressing room.
Hopefully, Beale’s side will put in the sort of performance that we’ve come to expect of a Rangers side in the Europa League as should they fail once again before they’ve even got their season properly up and running, the Ibrox boss could well be on borrowed time.
In other Rangers news, the Light Blues’ squad value has been shared and they have no excuse to not at least reach the knockout stages this season