Giovanni van Bronckhorst admitted Rangers were revved-up to make Champions League history by PSV Eindhoven fans’ pre-match antics and admitted a euphoric European night was made all the sweeter due to their bus bedlam.
The delirious Dutchman spoke ahead of the game of how the scenes were the “worst” he’d witnessed in football as the Light Blues coach was swamped by home fans and they had to take an alternative route into the stadium.
A request to delay the kick off was rejected but Van Bronckhorst had the last laugh thanks to Antonio Colak’s second half winner in the Philips Stadium earned a 3-2 aggregate playoff win and secured the Ibrox club’s place in the group stage of UEFA’s premier competition for the first time in 12 years.
They join rivals Celtic in the hat for the draw in Istanbul on Thursday tea-time and Van Bronckhorst says the potential £30 million revenue generated from qualification could see him strengthen his squad before the transfer window closes as he insisted banished Alfredo Morelos was part of the glory night despite being left at home.
On the pre-match scenes, Van Bronckhorst told BT Sport: “We used that to be ready. We were already ready for the game and when that happened the victory tastes sweeter and I’m really happy with how we played. It’s a proud moment for all of us.”
With the golden ticket secured, he said: “It will impact us (in terms of transfers) because as a player and coach you only think of competing with the best teams in Europe and we have the opportunity to do so. There are many positives we take from this game and the club and board are also we get more financial opportunities. We always have good conversations on how to spend the money. Anything can happen before the window closes so we have to be prepared.
“It feels great to win this game and to finally hear the whistle in the end and achieve what we wanted - to be in the Champions League. I was more relaxed than last week because of the way we played, very controlled. We played the way we wanted, especially in the first half. We controlled the game, they couldn’t press us and we found space.
“They changed the system a little bit in the second half. Luuk de Jong went out so the aerial threat was less and we scored at the right moment and became stronger and stronger during the game.
“Malik produced a good performance, better than last week. You wanted to come here and find the opportunities to press them and at the goal we were waiting for the ball to be played and the first touch in football is the most important touch and Malik won it and his composure and vision after that - seeing Antonio free - was a great moment for us. Tom Lawrence also almost scored so I couldn’t be prouder if you see the way we played.”
But Van Bronckhorst said Morelos, who has one year left on his Ibrox deal, could still have a future at the club but said it’s up to him now after he was left behind due to fitness and attitude concerns.
The Gers boss said: “He’s part of the squad and it’s on Alfredo to work his way back into the team. Morelos is still a Rangers player. I think he’s proud of the moment we had today because he’s part of it and we have to see in the coming days how it will evolve but of course it’s a very positive moment for all of us and also Morelos.”
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