Coming just days after some fans had committed to spending up to £180 on a three-match package the last thing Rangers supporters wanted to hear from their manager was that they couldn’t compete at Champions League level. But that was exactly what Giovanni van Bronckhorst told them following the 4-0 thumping by Ajax in the opening Group A fixture.
With five games left in the campaign, supporters will be hoping for a better showing in future games – particularly those ones at Ibrox Stadium they have paid good money for. Van Bronckhorst’s assessment came just 24 hours after Dinamo Zagreb had stunned Premier League big spenders Chelsea so for many the manager’s claim “hundreds of millions” are needed to compete with the cream of the continent didn’t add up. There are many other examples in the competition, including Celtic’s famous win over Barcelona and Moldovan minnows Sheriff Tiraspol stunning Real Madrid in their own backyard last season. Yes, the gulf between the haves and the have-nots has grown and made life more difficult for sides outside of the so-called Big Five nations.
But still. Rangers fans were looking for more to be invested in their squad during the summer after generating around £50million from a 19-game run to the Europa League Final last season and raking in a record sale fee rising to £20m for Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo leaving for around half of that and then you throw in the potential to make £30million from Champions League group stage qualification for the first time in 12 years. In total, observers have estimated around £110m has been earned in the past year.
It still wouldn’t have compared to kind of cash spent by the majority of teams in UEFA’s premier competition. It also has to be remembered that many of Rangers’ summer signings were either unavailable or not on the pitch in Amsterdam. Ben Davies and Ridvan Yilmaz cost a combined fee of almost £10million but didn’t feature and James Sands and Malik Tillman are both on loan but would cost significant money to buy. That’s a different argument though and relates to the criticism Ross Wilson is receiving.
Here Record Sport takes a look at the total cost of EVERY starting XI from matchday one of the Champions League to see how Rangers compare and if “hundreds of millions” is indeed what is required.
PSG - £533million
It's mad to think PSG are still waiting to be crowned kings of Europe with the plethora of talent at their disposal. The 2-1 victory over Juventus this week showed £166million striker Kylian Mbappe at his very best with the France striker conjuring up two brilliant finishes.
Manchester City - £508m
With a squad worth more than half a billion pounds, you'd expect Pep Guardiola's men to be in contention to finally win their first ever Champions League - and with £54million summer signing Erling Haaland in his current form, who'd bet against them?
Chelsea - £405m
The 2021 Champions League winners have just embarked on the most expensive transfer window in the club's entire history, with new owner Todd Boehly sanctioning a plethora of shiny new arrivals for more than £250million. Tuesday night's starting XI was also missing the likes of Christian Pulisic, N'Golo Kante and £60million left-back Marc Cucurella.
Real Madrid - £328m
As you'd probably expect, the reigning European champions boast one of the most expensively assembled squads in this season's competition - and still had the luxury of bringing on Eden Hazard at Celtic Park - with the former Chelsea man costing in excess of £100million back in 2019.
Bayern Munich - £324m
The big-spending Bundesliga side are always around in the deep stages of the Champions League and it’s hardly surprising with the money they outlay. Strikers are often the most expensive but Lucas Hernandez cost more than £70m and Matthijs de Ligt £60m to strengthen their defence.
Barcelona - £311m
The Catalans pleaded poverty this summer but that didn’t stop them spending big, splashing out £40m on 33-year-old Robert Lewandowski. Raphinha joined for a fee in excess of £50m and was stuck on the bench for their 5-1 rout of Viktoria Plzen.
Liverpool - £296m
The Reds were humiliated in Italy as Napoli thrashed them and that was with a starting XI costing just shy of £300m so maybe Jurgen Klopp has bigger problems and this total DOESN’T include the £64m spent on Darwin Nunez as he came off the bench.
Atletico Madrid - £235m
The Spaniards opened their campaign with a 2-1 win over Porto and in Joao Felix have a player who cost £114m which underlines the gulf in finances.
Tottenham - £234m
Antonio Conte spent an initial £50m to sign Richarlison from Everton in the summer and he started to repay that fee with a double to get the Londoners off to a Champions League winning start.
Napoli - £210m
The Serie A side are next up for Rangers in the Champions League and their line-up that thrashed Liverpool cost more than DOUBLE of Ajax’s. Victor Osimhen is the pick of the bunch and cost almost £70m when the Nigerian signed from Lille.
Juventus - £204million
The undoubted jewel in Juve's crown is Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic - and after costing a cool £73million last season, he probably should be. He undoubtedly has the ability to establish himself as one of the continent's top forwards in years to come.
AC Milan - £142m
Classy attacking midfielder Charles De Ketelaere was this summer's blockbuster signing for the Italian champions, with Wednesday night's starting line-up without the likes of ex-Liverpool striker Divock Origi and, of course, the legendary Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Borussia Dortmund - £121.4million
The Bundesliga giants opened their campaign with a resounding 3-0 victory over Copenhagen this week, with the priceless Jude Bellingham pulling the strings and getting on the scoresheet.
Inter Milan - £114m
The Italians went down 2-0 at home to Bayern Munich and still have 36-year-old Edin Dzeko starting for them, although fellow striker Lautaro Martinez cost in excess of £20m.
RB Leipzig - £109m
The German side splashed out on Timo Werner from Chelsea during the summer transfer window for a fee just shy of £20m - less than two years after selling the striker for almost double that amount to the Stamford Bridge side.
Bayer Leverkusen - £102m
The German side slumped to defeat in Belgium against a Club Brugge side they paid £20m to sign Ivorian Odilon Kossounou. They also had former Celtic man Jeremie Frimpong in their ranks, for whom they paid almost £10m, and £20m strike star Patrik Schick.
Ajax - £102m
The Dutch side were able to plunder Rangers for Calvin Bassey and splash out around £20mon a total package for the player. Van Bronckhorst used the full back as an example of how he was unable to compete, admitting he’d love to have kept him. The Dutch side raked in £85m for Antony alone who went to Manchester United and that allowed them to spend big on the likes of Steven Bergwijn who cost £30m from Spurs.
Marseille - £75m
The French giants’ most expensive player is Gerson after spending £18m to sign the Brazilian from Flamengo. They also coughed up around £11m on Matteo Guendouzi from Arsenal.
FC Porto - £68m
The Portuguese side still have 39-year-old Pepe playing for them and ex-Rangers man Fabio Cardoso in their ranks and haven’t spent big with defender David Carmo their most expensive signing at £18m from Braga. It’s still more than the entire Rangers XI, though.
Benfica - £64million
The Portuguese side could be dark horses to stage a run into the later stages of this season's competition, despite their starting XI on Tuesday costing just over £64million. The 21-year-old striker Goncalo Ramos is definitely a name worth remembering.
Dinamo Zagreb - £56m
Chelsea's conquerors endured a pretty modest summer in the transfer market in comparison to Europe's elite, but still boast a squad brimming with talent. Robert Ljubicic was this summer's most expensive recruit at £2.25million from Rapid Vienna, whilst Luka Ivanusec remains the club's record buy after joining from Lokomotiv Moscow for £11million in 2019.
Club Brugge - £48m
Rangers defeated Union Saint-Gilloise in their third round qualifier and were edged by Club Brugge in last season’s Belgian title race. They got off to a winning start against Bayer Leverkusen with a team the included Andreas Skov Olsen, a player frequently linked with Rangers and cost over £6m while Raphael Onyedika was £8m from FC Midtjylland.
Sevilla - £39.6million
Usually synonymous with the Europa League, Sevilla will fancy their chances of qualify for the knockout stages, despite their experienced squad costing a relatively cheap £39million.
Eintracht Frankfurt - £35.5m
The Germans cashed in on their Europa League win with plenty of signings but didn’t splash huge cash. World Cup winner Mario Gotze was the big name but cost just £3.6m from PSV. And, like Rangers, the step up to the Champions League proved a big step as they lost 3-0 at home to Sporting Lisbon.
Sporting Lisbon - £47m
The Primeira League side have been prudent in the transfer market but appear to get value for money after a thumping win against Rangers’ Europa League conquerers Eintracht Frankfurt in their opening game.
RB Salzburg - £34m
The Austrian champions managed to snap up exciting 23-year-old Brazilian from Shakhtar Donetsk for £5.4million, while star striker Noah Okafor remains the club record signing at £10million.
Celtic - £28.5m
The Hoops invested significantly in keeping last season's loan stars Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota, and both players enjoyed a promising Champions League debut against the mighty Real Madrid. Ange Postecoglou will fancy his side's chances of pipping both RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk to a place in the last-16.
Copenhagen - £17m
The Danes were dealt a harsh lesson match day one by Dortmund and it looks as though they'll require divine intervention to qualify for the knockout stages.
Rangers - £14m
Ryan Kent remains the most expensive player at Ibrox after the £7m shelled out for him but that was four years ago. However, the likes of James Sands and Malik Tillman are both on loan and the former would reportedly cost just short of £5m.
Maccabi Haifa - £4m
With their starting XI costing a paltry £4million, it's difficult to see Haifa making any sort of dent in the Champions League, and have relied mainly on free transfers in recent years.
Viktoria Plzen - £4m
The Czech side were on the end of a thumping in the Nou Camp and it’s no surprise with former national team boss Michal Bilek’s side made up mainly of free transfers and modest fees.
Shakhtar Donestsk - £2.1m
The Ukrainian champions' eye catching victory away to RB Leipzig is all the more impressive when you realise they fielded a team mainly containing players from their youth ranks and loanees - as well as Celtic flop Marian Shved.
Is it reasonable to expect Rangers to put up a respectable showing in the group?
Let us know in the comments section below...
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