Giovanni Van Bronckhorst makes ‘Perfect’ Rangers admission after what he saw
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst was left in awe after Rangers beat Fenerbahce 3-1 in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie on Thursday.
Goals from Vaclav Cerny and Cyriel Dessers hand the Bears and Barry Ferguson an all-important advantage heading into the second leg at Ibrox next week.
Van Bronckhorst famously guided Rangers to the Europa League final in his time in Govan, yet, he was still blown away by what he saw from his former club in Turkiye.
Rangers performance leaves Van Bronckhorst impressed
The 2024/25 season has been strange for the Ibrox outfit with their domestic form way off the pace in comparison to what they’ve done in the Europa League.
However, in Europe, they seem to be able to turn things up a gear or two, which on the face of things, doesn’t make much sense.
| Position | Team | Points |
| 1st | Celtic | 75 |
| 2nd | Rangers | 59 |
| 3rd | Hibernian | 43 |
| 4th | Aberdeen | 42 |
All of Ferguson’s men were sensational on Thursday with Van Bronckhorst sharing his plaudits for the performance they put on.
“Perfect, perfect performance. Really proud of the team, really proud of Barry and his staff,” he said on TNT Sports, in quotes relayed by BBC Sport (7 March).
Ferguson needs to gear his team up for a war v Fenerbahce
As long as Rangers can put in a performance to a similar standard as they showed on Thursday in the second leg, they should easily advance into the quarter-finals.
Before the game, there weren’t many fans or pundits who gave Ferguson’s men much of a chance against the Turkish Super Lig outfit.
However, they defied the odds and ended up leaving with a two-goal advantage.
The Europa League is the last thing that Rangers have to fight for this term after being knocked out of the Scottish Cup after an embarrassing 1-0 defeat to Queen’s Park last month.
Given how European football sparks Rangers into life, it would be no surprise to see them go close to the final once again, but it will obviously raise questions about the mentality of this squad domestically.
For now, it is time to repay these fans who have been forced to watch rubbish for most of this season.