Barry Ferguson insists Rangers must take a lead to Eindhoven after their first leg clash with PSV.
Gio van Bronckhorst will face old foes and friends when Ruud van Nistelrooy brings his side to Ibrox on Tuesday for the first instalment of their Champions League playoff showdown. The Gers booked their place by staging an impressive comeback against Belgian outfit Union SG, winning 3-0 in Govan after they looked down and out following a 2-0 reverse away from home. PSV saw off French cracks Monaco, equalising in the 89th minute to force extra-time before Luuk de Jong netted an extra-time winner to ensure the Dutch side progressed.
Now Van Bronckhorst will be in the opposite dugout to his former national team colleague Van Nistelrooy, with the winner scooping the £40million prize pot that comes with reaching the group stage. The losers will drop into the same stage of the Europa League.
Ferguson still sees this season's Rangers team as a work in progress as new signings such as Malik Tillman, Antonio Colak and Tom Lawrence bed in. Alfredo Morelos is still working his way back to full fitness, but Ferguson believes his former club have enough to get the job done - provided they win at home first.
“We know what the Dutch are like,” he told the Go Radio Football Show. “They like to get the ball down and play. PSV normally play with two centre backs and fullbacks are right high and wide, so I think it will be an open game and that will suit Rangers.
“Ideally, as a Rangers man, I’d have liked to have gone over to Eindhoven first. But that’s the way the draw’s been made and Rangers need to make sure that they get a good result going over to Eindhoven, because it will be tough over there. No doubt about it.
“But Rangers have got enough, for me, to get through. And they need to make sure they get into the Champions League because we all know what that brings; a huge amount of money. £40million and that’s not taking into account the home games, where it’s £3m or £4m on top of the £40m.
“The positive for me just now is that they’re not playing at the top of their game. It’s a work in progress with new players coming in, but I saw a different side to them on Wednesday night. There was a bit of pressure on them and it was vital they got that penalty just before half-time. But they came out in the second half and showed a bit of grit, determination and fire, and deserved to go through.
“The great thing as well is that Gio will know them inside out. He knows every single player and knows what it’s like to go over there. But it’s vital that Rangers take a decent lead over there.
“I always say that teams coming to Ibrox, they look at the atmosphere and you could see that Union were shook in the first 10 or 15 minutes. I’ve seen it myself.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play against some top teams like Bayern Munich and Inter with top players. But you look at them on the pitch and they’re looking about. They've never sampled anything like this before. Great atmospheres in other stadiums, but over here on European nights, it’s a different level.”
Ferguson knows exactly what it’s like to go to Eindhoven and win. He was part of the Light Blues side that beat their opponents 1-0 in Holland back in 1999 as Dick Advocaat’s side sought a place in the second group stage.
Jorg Albertz’ winner was followed up four weeks later with a thumping 4-1 Ibrox victory, thanks to Lorenzo Amoruso and Neil McCann goals either side of a Michael Mols double.
Van Nistelrooy pulled one back from the spot before half-time. But there was little he could do to prevent Ferguson and co running riot on the night.
“We won 1-0 over there,” Ferguson recalled. “Big Jorg Albertz scored and then we beat them 4-1 at Ibrox. Van Nistelrooy played and also the boy Luc Nilis, who went to Aston Villa and got a bad leg break in his first game. They had some top players at the time, but so did we.”
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