It was a battle of Britain in name only as Rangers left Anfield having barely fired off a shot in anger. But former Ibrox hero Davie Robertson reckons his old side can get their Champions League mission back on track by making Wednesday’s rematch with Liverpool a proper scrap at Ibrox.
Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League megastars barely had to get out of second gear as they rolled straight over the top of Gers on their way to last-week’s effortless 2-0 win. On a night when the travelling Light Blues faithful were hoping Gio van Bronckhorst’s team could summon the spirit of 1992 and pull off a repeat of the club’s famous victories over Leeds, it was the Scots who ended up scurrying for cover.
In truth, there was little sign of the blood and thunder approach that did for Howard Wilkinson’s team three decades back. Robertson was part of the team that twice stunned the English champions as they set off on a march that would take them agonisingly close to reaching the first ever Champions League final.
In the time since, a huge financial chasm has opened up spanning the length of Hadrian’s Wall. Yet Robertson reckons Klopp’s stuttering Scousers are there to be shot at. “Games like last week’s are always difficult, especially away from home,” said the former left-back.
“When you come up against teams of the quality of Liverpool, nine times out of 10 Liverpool win. You just have to hope it’s that one time you get a result. I remember a few years back under Walter when Rangers drew at home to Barcelona. It was just about digging in and working your backside off.
“Unfortunately at Anfield, Liverpool got the early goal with the free-kick and then it’s very difficult to come back, especially when you’ve set up in a way that makes you hard to break down. The players will be disappointed with how last week went and will want to make amends.
“ Rangers have to make it a battle - certainly more of a battle than they did last week. We don’t know what Liverpool’s approach will be. They’ve got some injuries and have a big game against Manchester City at the weekend. But there’s no point Rangers sitting in and waiting for something to happen. They have to take the fight to Liverpool.”
The team Robertson starred in as they dumped Leeds had no shortage of characters willing to battle through the trenches. Like last week, Gers found themselves behind early after Gary McAllister fired a sensational first-minute opener in the first leg at Ibrox.
But where Gio van Bronckhorst’s side were unable to launch a counter offensive, Walter Smith’s warriors battled back to claim back-to-back triumphs that hushed the cocky English Press. "When we faced Leeds, we had no fear,” said Robertson.
“I’m not saying we were invincible at that time but we always knew we were a difficult team to play against and with guys like Ally McCoist and big Mark Hateley up front, we always felt we could score goals. The spirit we had then, with it being a mostly Scottish group because of the three-foreigners rule, was so strong. It was never-say-die stuff and if we lost a goal we always had that belief we could come back.
“That’s what happened at Ibrox. It was actually me who headed the ball out to Gary Mac. To be fair to the big man, it was a wonder strike. The silence after it was incredible. But that didn’t really upset us and in fact it only made the crowd respond in even louder fashion.
“There is so much passion for the club amongst the Rangers support. They really spurred us on and that’s a big reason for how we managed to come back and get a result. For the second game, the English media wrote us off but I always think that’s when Rangers teams are at their most dangerous, when people don’t give us a chance.
"Reading some of the papers down there before the game, it was like they’d already decided we’d been eliminated. Archie Knox made sure all those clippings were on the dressing room board. That got us so fired up and we went out thinking we had nothing to lose. That’s the way this team has to go about it because unless they get a result, they’ll be all but out.”
Rangers are certainly in must-not-lose territory after starting Group A with three straight losses. But the pressure is growing on Reds boss Klopp too, with his side already 14 points adrift of Premier League leaders Arsenal after Sunday’s defeat in North London.
That result came at an added cost as the Merseyside manager saw two of his key men Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz sustain injuries that rule them out of tomorrow night’s clash and possibly much longer. With the visitors creaking, Robertson is intrigued to see how they stand up to an Ibrox shockwave.
He said: “Ibrox is a special atmosphere. I remember when I moved to Leeds later on in my career and we were playing Manchester United at Elland Road. The folk down there told me how good it would be. They said there’s nothing else like it.
“But trust me, it’s nothing compared to a big night at Ibrox. I’ve seen some big players like Gary Neville saying the best atmosphere they ever played at was at Ibrox. So Liverpool are going to have to cope with that this week. It will be totally different to last week at Anfield.
“It was a sore one last week but you won't find the fans licking their wounds on Wednesday. It will just fire them up even more. The punters up here really are the 12th man and I can see it being a totally different game. I always felt when I played at Ibrox that I was playing for the men and women who pay their hard earned money to come cheer us on.
"Every time I pulled that blue shirt on I wanted to sent them home happy. Hopefully the team can do that this week. We just have to hope that the support can shake the Liverpool team. They’ve had their own disappointments lately and picked up a couple of big injuries against Arsenal. Not many of them will have experienced an atmosphere like this.”
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