A potential £40 million prize awaits but in the first leg you couldn’t slip a fiver between Rangers and PSV Eindhoven. And now that lucrative place in the Champions League group stage will go on the line in the Philips Stadium in the second leg.
A ding-dong battle with the Dutch side ended with the sides sharing four goals on a nervy, entertaining night at Ibrox. The sides went toe to toe, both enjoying the lead at one stage and both being pegged back.
In the end they simply couldn’t be separated as they slugged it out for a tension-filled 90 minutes in front of the watching Sir Alex Ferguson. Ivorian Ibrahim Sangare fired in the opener but Rangers roared back and Antonio Colak netted his fourth goal in as many games before Tom Lawrence netted a free kick with 20 minutes left after a huge blunder by PSV keeper Walter Benitez. But that lead last just eight minutes as Armando Obispo headed the Eredivisie side back level and it’s now all to play for across the North Sea next week.
There was a huge call from Van Bronckhorst as veteran Steven Davis came in for just his second appearance of the season in the middle of the park while the Rangers boss stuck with Colak in attack and rewarded his manager. But there was a huge let off for the Light Blues inside just four minutes when Ismael Saibari swung in a ball from the right and skipper Luuk de Jong escaped the Gers defence but the striker - usually so clinical - fired over when he looked odds-on to score.
Rangers struggled to build up play in the first half and it took until midway through the half to test keeper Walter Benitez but even that was an easy save for the Argentinian as Malik Tillman’s shot was held after Davis set him up.
Loud appeals for a penalty were then turned down, after a VAR check, from Italian referee Daniele Orsato when Connor Goldson’s header appeared to strike the hand of Jordan Teze. And PSV took full advantage of surviving that spot kick appeal to take the lead eight minutes before the break.
And it was a scrappy one from Rangers’ point of view as they failed to clear a corner and the ball fell into the path of Sangare who made no mistake with the finish, drilling the ball beyond a helpless Jon McLaughlin.
It was a real blow but the this is Ibrox on a European night and this side find that something extra as they struck back to level before the break. And it was a brilliantly worked goal with Davis playing a lovely ball out to James Tavernier who picked out Colak with his cross and the Croatian international supplied a lovely finish.
Colak stung the palms of Benitez early in the second half but a capacity crowd held its breath as Saibari put an effort just the wrong side of the post from De Jong’s flick-on. The visitors slowly gained the upper hand as the second half wore on and were looking the more likely to score.
But it was Rangers who found the net, albeit with a huge slice of fortune. A foul on Tillman saw the home side awarded a free kick and Lawrence had a pop but it should have been a routine save for Benitez but he inexplicably allowed the ball to squirm out of his hands and into the net.
PSV must have been kicking themselves but, like Gers in the first half, they fought back to level the tie again with Obispo getting on the end of Cody Gakpo’s corner to bullet a header into the net.
McLaughlin made a great stop to deny Philipp Max late on as both sides chased a crucial winner.
Here's five talking points from Ibrox Stadium:
Colak critics eating their words
Strikers arriving at either half of the Old Firm are often judged early - and sometimes harshly. Antonio Colak was one where many made up their minds after a couple of games. And it didn’t help when he was filling in for Alfredo Morelos who was still trying to find his fitness.
But the former PAOK Salonika man has won any doubters over with four goals in a row. He might not offer the same as Morelos in terms of all-round play but he’s shown he just needs a glimpse of goal and he can find the net.
The old ones are the best
A lot of eyebrows might have been raised when Steven Davis was handed a start in the middle of the park - just his second of the season and first in Europe since Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s first game in charge against Sparta Prague. But the veteran showed his quality with a composed display in the engine room and his sublime pass in the build up to Antonio Colak’s crucial equaliser before he went off late on.
Friends reunited
Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Ruud van Nistelrooy spoke of their mutual respect for each other in the pre-match build-up and it was clear to see as the former Dutch international team-mates embraced during their touchline interviews ahead of kick off and then again as they walked out of the tunnel. There were smiles but also some serious words, maybe as it dawned on them exactly what was on the line here and that there could only be one winner.
Dutch of class
When you reach the playoff round then the chances are you’re going to meet a quality outfit and that was the case here - the goalkeeping blunder apart! Rangers overcame some continental giants on their run to the Europa League Final and that has rightly given them confidence that they can take on anyone. But the Champions League is a step up and that as evident here with PSV Eindhoven a hugely different proposition from Union Saint-Gilloise. Opening scorer Sangare and Manchester United target Cody Gakpo were quality and it’s a sign of the kind of test that awaits if they reach the group stage.
Home comforts
PSV Eindhoven are the eighth side now who have visited Ibrox in Europe and failed to leave with the win. It’s an impressive record given some of the quality, such as German giants Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig, opponents. The Dutch were up there with the best of them along with Lyon who were the last side to win in Govan.
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