Ewan Murray was at Ibrox to witness a match for the ages. His report has landed, and here it is. Thanks for reading this MBM. Congratulations to Rangers. Nighty night!
Gers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst talks to BT: “It is very hard to find words. It’s been an amazing night. We said we would do everything possible, and the players, together with the crowd, were fantastic. We made the atmosphere we needed. You cannot write a script better than this. We are all very proud, and toasted inside Jimmy. To win against Leipzig, who have a lot of quality, is amazing. Sparta Prague was my first game in charge and we knew the result would take us into Europe after the break, that was our only goal! But we took every opponent time by time, game by game, and I am proud of our achievement. Not many players can play finals. Once you’re in, you have to do everything to win.”
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The goalscoring hero John Lundstram adds: “I come into tonight with a good feeling. Can we get a result here? Of course we can, look at the place! But to actually go out and do it, I honestly can’t put it into words how much it means to me. It’s crazy! We’ve been through some ups and downs this season, and to come out of it in a Europa League final, wow, what an achievement! The lads gave absolutely everything. It doesn’t go our way sometimes, but we do, every single time. They’re a phenomenal team, and the game changed momentum in the second half, but thankfully I’ve anticipated a knockdown and put it in the back of the net. It’s the best night of my career by a country mile. Jimmy was the bedrock of the club, I can’t speak highly enough of him. I want to dedicate my goal to him, I love him to bits. ”
James Tavernier, the Sandy Jardine de nos jour, speaks to BT Sport. “First and foremost, we wanted to do it for Jimmy, and I’m super proud of the effort all the lads put in. All the staff, and all the fans. He’ll be looking down proud on all of us, and so will Walter. I’m absolutely delighted, we’re through to the final, and you can hear the boise! It was a tough test. It’s an unbelievable feeling, to be a European finalist, it’s what you dream of. The boys executed our plan to a T, and I’m buzzing. We’ll go to Seville full of confidence, but Frankfurt have got to the final for a reason. But it’s one game, and we’ll fully back ourselves. We obviously want to win it. We want to make the fans proud.”
Every single Rangers player put in the performance of their life tonight. They flew out of the blocks and Leipzig were never really able to recover, save a brief period before and after the goal. “If there’s to be another goal before extra time, Leipzig look much the more likely right now,” this MBM wrote, roughly 60 seconds before John Lundstram’s winner. I can have a karmic assist for tempting fate, right?
Ally McCoist always finds the right words. “Walter Smith and Jimmy will be up there, having a wee dram and a cuddle,” he says on BT Sport. Dusty atmosphere where you are too?
Ibrox erupts, the Rangers players cavort ... and Jimmy Bell is looking down from somewhere, smiling at a job well done! Rangers deservedly make it to the 2022 Europa League final! They’ll play Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville on May 18! What a performance! To put this in context, nine years ago yesterday, Rangers were lifting the Third Division trophy. Ready? Aye.
FULL TIME: Rangers 3-1 Leipzig (agg 3-2)
Yes they can! Balogun wins a huge clearing header, and Rangers are off to sunny, sunny Spain!
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90 min +3: Kampl forces a corner down the right! Gulacsi is coming up. The last-chance saloon for Leipzig! Can Rangers hold out?
90 min +2: Lundstram wins a block challenge in the centre circle and sends Sakala clear down the middle! Sakala, one on one with Gulacsi, shoots straight at the keeper. The flag goes up for offside anyway.
90 min +1: Sakala and Kent are two on one on the counter, but somehow manage to ship possession with perhaps understandable indecision.
90 min: Leipzig are pressing, but Rangers are holding their shape. There will be three additional minutes. Three minutes from Seville!
89 min: Kamara takes the ball off Laimer’s toe. It’s a fine challenge, and he should win a free kick, the Leipzig man catching him on the follow through. But he doesn’t get one.
87 min: Pinball in the Rangers box. Hearts in mouths. Eventually the ball clanks off the referee, to Rangers’ great relief. The referee sends Leipzig away, and drops the ball for McGregor to pick up. The home side got away with one there!
86 min: ... Gvardiol heads high over the bar. Ibrox crackles.
85 min: Henrichs loops a cross in from the right. Silva challenges McGregor, but the keeper makes the catch. Leipzig come again, Halstenberg forcing a corner down the left. From which ...
84 min: Ibrox is a bubbling cauldron of excitement and angst. It’s a very long time until the whistle blows. Last night at the Bernabeu taught us that.
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83 min: Leipzig have responded to going behind in the tie by making a double change. Poulsen and Angelino are replaced by Halstenberg and Silva.
82 min: Sakala dribbles down the left and cuts in from the wing. He finds Kent on the edge of the box. Chance to shoot! But Kent can’t control Leipzig clear.
GOAL! Rangers 3-1 RB Leipzig (Lundstram 80); agg 3-2
... Gulasci flaps. Gvardiol stops the ball going in, but it breaks back to Lundstram, who slams the loose ball home from six yards! Rangers are back in the lead, and ten minutes plus stoppages away from the final!
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80 min: Salaka is brought to a juddering halt down the right, and it’s a chance for Rangers to line up on the edge of the Leipzig box. Tavernier swings the free kick long. Kent chips in from the left, and ...
79 min: The tension is palpable, though, as the increasingly dangerous Nkunku whistles another cross through the Rangers box from the right. If there’s to be another goal before extra time, Leipzig look much the more likely right now.
77 min: Rangers have settled a little, and are pushing up the park. Van Bronckhorst has, in no uncertain terms, told Tavernier not to sit so deep.
76 min: ... so having said that, Lundstram wins a corner down the right. He’s not booked after the first stop in play, though, despite having wrestled Nkunku to the ground back there in pretty brazen fashion. Nothing comes of the corner.
75 min: ... Laimer strides towards the Rangers box. He slips wide right for Nkunku, whose low fizzing cross only evades the toe of Szoboszlai by inches. Rangers are rocking here.
74 min: Lundstram cleans out Nkunku in the centre circle. But the referee waves play on, because ...
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72 min: That’s taken some of the air out of Ibrox all right. Rangers will have to clear their heads, because Leipzig were well on top in the lead-up to the goal.
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GOAL! Rangers 2-1 Leipzig (Nkunku 70); agg 2-2
This had been coming. Angelino crosses low from the left. Nkunku meets the ball first time, steering a pacy sidefooted effort into the right-hand side of the net! McGregor had no chance, and the tie is level!
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69 min: Space for Szoboszlai down the middle. He attempts to release Nkunku, waiting on the edge of the Rangers box. Blue shirts surround and clear. But Leipzig come again, and Laimer sashays into the Rangers area unchallenged, down the middle. He opens his body and looks to steer into the bottom right ... but McGregor parries clear! What a save!
68 min: Kent dribbles in from the left and, for a minute, things look like opening up for him. But he’s swarmed by white shirts, and his eventual pass towards Arfield, the only man who has kept up with play, is no good.
67 min: Angelino crosses from the left. Nkunku flicks a header towards nowhere and nobody in particular. McGregor is happy with an easy claim.
65 min: Szoboszlai is checked by Balogun out on the left. The free kick is sent long, towards the far stick by Angelino. Gvardiol stretches but can only clank the ball into the side netting.
64 min: Barisic is sent scampering down the left touchline by Kent. He whips a cross in, hoping to find Sakala, but the wily Orban is positioned well to flick clear.
62 min: Leipzig make their first change. Szoboszlai comes on for Olmo.
61 min: Arfield, striding down the right, thinks about spectacularly volleying Goldson’s diagonal pass goalwards. Instead he lets the ball bounce, and looks to have lost it, but suddenly spins away from Klostermann and Angelino near the right-hand corner flag. He runs along the byline and looks for Sakala at the far post, but gets the pass all wrong and it’s an easy collect for Gulacsi. Had he found his man, Sakala was tapping in from a couple of yards.
60 min: On the bench, a huge bag of ice is applied to Jack’s ankle.
59 min: A double change for Rangers. Arfield and Balogun come on for Wright and Jack, the latter having felt something and indicated to his bench that he can’t continue.
57 min: Kampl and Poulsen cause trouble on the edge of the Rangers box, nearly combining to break through on the right. The home team hold firm, but there’s a sense that Leipzig are beginning to dominate possession for the first time this evening.
55 min: Leipzig stroke it around the back to deafening whistles of derision from the Ibrox faithful.
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53 min: Lundstram crosses from the right. The ball’s deflected out for a corner. Tavernier swings it long. Goldson rises high but can’t connect. He’s convinced he was pushed, but he’s not getting the penalty decision, rightly so because there wasn’t much in it. The ball comes back in from the other flank, and Sakala skims a header wide right from six yards.
52 min: Van Bronckhorst isn’t happy with the referee. Nothing major, just a relentless drip, drip, drip of decisions not going their way. Imagine the ironic cheers, then, when Kampl is booked for a clip on Wright as the Rangers forward dribbles down the left.
50 min: “There’s only one Jimmy Bell,” sing the Rangers fans. “Rest easy,” reads a banner.
49 min: Goldson forces a Leipzig mistake in the centre circle and Sakala is sent on his first run down the inside left. He’s got half a chance of finding Wright in the middle, but doesn’t spot the pass and runs off down a cul-de-sac. Some promise here, though, especially if Leipzig are still searching for a goal later on, and start throwing more men forward.
47 min: All a bit scrappy in the opening stages of the second half. Rangers will take 22 more phases like this.
Rangers get the second half underway. “Rangers have been phenomenal,” writes Steven Grundy. “Kent has been a live wire on that flank and Tav is his usual fantastic self. I’m a bit worried about three of our defenders getting carded in the first 45. Perhaps GvB should take Goldson off?” Perhaps ... but he’s not done so yet. No half-time changes. We go on.
Half-time reading. Here’s Barney Ronay on the issues hampering Manchester City in their unfulfilled quest for the Champions League (and here’s the Fiver on the same subject, sort of, while we’re at it).
HALF TIME: Rangers 2-0 RB Leipzig (agg: 2-1)
Rangers have been superb, and have deservedly turned this tie around! A long, long, long, long, long, long, long way to go ... but as things stand, Rangers will be playing Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville on 18 May.
45 min +2: Aribo is happily back on his feet, but he doesn’t look too clever, and Rangers are taking no chances whatsoever. He walks off groggy, and is replaced by Sakala.
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45 min +1: The board goes up for one extra first-half minute, though with the stretcher coming on, there will be more than that.
45 min: Angelino smacks the free kick straight at the wall, and Aribo takes the ball flush in his startled coupon. He falls forward to the floor and the referee waves on the physio.
44 min: Henrichs spins Barisic down the right and is just about to enter the Rangers box and shoot when he’s clipped from behind. Barisic becomes the third Rangers player to go into the book ... and this is a free kick in a very dangerous position, just in front of the right-hand corner of the box.
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43 min: Poulsen romps into space down the left, hugging the touchline. He curls a tempting low ball into the box towards Nkunku, but Barisic reads the danger and gets in between man and ball, six yards out.
41 min: Another chance for Aribo to shoot, as he spins into space and strides down the inside-right channel. But again he looks for Wright, and plays the ball behind his team-mate. Rangers certainly look like they have more goals in them.
40 min: Aribo has the opportunity to shoot from a position to the right of the D, but perhaps shaken by his earlier miss, opts to roll wide for Wright instead. The move breaks down. “Loving your Sandy Jardine love, Scott,” writes Robin Durie. “I had the privilege of watching him at Tynecastle, when he and Alex MacDonald came over from Rangers, and took Hearts on the amazing roller-coaster that was the 1985—86 season.”
38 min: Goldson clips Henrichs out on the right wing. That could easily have been a second yellow, so he’s fortunate the referee only awards the free kick. Angelino swings it long to Orban at the back post. Orban slaps his header wide left from close range. For the first time this evening, tension rather than passion is the top note in Ibrox.
36 min: ... and on that subject, Kampl swings out a cynical leg to check an in-flight Kent, and really should go into the book himself. But the referee, much to the annoyance of everyone in the ground, isn’t interested. That’s a bit generous.
35 min: Leipzig haven’t threatened much since going two down. Rangers just need to keep their heads and not give them any numerical advantage.
33 min: Incidentally, there was a flare thrown onto the pitch in the wake of Kamara’s goal, and there’s been an announcement that any more nonsense will see the players taken off. A lot of emotion in this stadium.
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31 min: The referee has a reputation for being card happy, and now Goldson goes into the book for what looked no more than a garden-variety foul, a jump into the back of Poulsen. Both Rangers centre backs have to watch themselves now.
29 min: Rangers should be three up. Barisic crosses deep from the left. Tavernier heads back across the face of goal. Aribo, six yards out, just has to slam home. He swings his wrong foot at the ball, and misses it altogether. Leipzig clear at the expense of a corner, from which nothing comes. What a chance!
28 min: Olmo latches onto a loose ball, 25 yards out, and tries to shape a shot into the top left. His effort flies miles over.
26 min: It’s not all good news for Rangers: Bassey is booked for stepping across Olmo, and will spend the rest of the evening balanced precariously on the old disciplinary tightrope. Speaking of which, Aaron Cresswell has been sent off for West Ham in the other semi - and Eintracht are one up. Rob Smyth has the details.
GOAL! Rangers 2-0 Leipzig (Kamara 24); agg 2-1
This is a sensational team goal, with a finish to match! Aribo, on the right, slips a pass into the box for Wright. He plays a cheeky cushioned ball back to Kamara, who opens his body and steers a forensic shot from the edge of the area across Gulacsi and into the bottom left! What a goal!
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22 min: There’s a sweet shot of a young man in the Rangers crowd already in tears, already blowing hard. Football: it’s all too much to take in sometimes.
20 min: That was a fantastic goal. Great work all round, not least by Kamara, who battled for a ball that he wasn’t favourite to win, but poked it between two opponents to send Kent away. Ibrox is bounce, bounce, bouncing.
GOAL! Rangers 1-0 Leipzig (Tavernier 18); agg 1-1
Just like Sandy Jardine all those years ago, a goalscoring right-back opens the scoring for Rangers in a Euro semi! Kamara forces the ball down the left flank to release Kent into space. He dribbles hard into the box and fires across the face of goal, where Tavernier arrives just on time to slam home from close range! The roof flies off Ibrox!
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17 min: That was the first real sign of danger for Rangers. Laimer romped away from Jack with indecent ease. Full marks for the Rangers midfielder’s tracking back, though.
15 min: Laimer spins away from Jack and romps down the middle of the park. Rangers unwisely stand off. He reaches the edge of the box and lays off to Poulsen on his right. Jack gets back to make a brilliant block. That’s wonderfully tenacious. Leipzig come again, but Poulsen clumsily clatters Bassey and the danger is over for now.
14 min: It’s all a bit scrappy at the moment. Nerves playing a part no doubt.
12 min: The rain’s coming down in Glasgow. You’d describe the evening as dreich were the atmosphere not crackling as it is.
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10 min: Olmo swings the corner in from the left. Orban wins an uncontested header on the penalty spot, and the hosts are rather fortunate to watch a lame effort sail well wide right. Bassey was half asleep there.
9 min: Jack carelessly ships possession 25 yards from his own goal. Nkunku has a dig, the ball taking a huge looping deflection out for the first corner of the evening.
7 min: Kamara looks to have spinned Kampl down the left, and is wrestled to a standstill for his trouble. The referee isn’t interested in awarding a free kick. Strange non-decision. Rangers come again, though, Wright making ground down the right and firing low into the box. Leipzig only half clear, and Jack tries to thread a shot towards the bottom right from the edge of the box. A nick off Kampl takes the pace off it, and it’s an easy claim for Gulacsi.
5 min: Laimer makes good down the right and reaches the byline, pulling back for Nkunku, lurking by the near post. Again the light-blue shirts swarm. Goal kick. It’s been a high-octane start by both sides.
3 min: Poulsen embarks on a dangerous run down the inside-left channel. It comes to an end on the edge of the Rangers box, but that’s the first statement of intent made by the visitors, who go into this match with a 1-0 lead.
2 min: Rangers are very much on the front foot, Aribo and Tavernier taking turns to carry the ball forward and take the game to Leipzig early doors. The crowd continue to give it plenty. Archibald Leitch’s criss-cross balustrades must be in danger of coming loose from their fittings.
Leipzig get the second leg of this semi-final underway. The home fans give it a few HÚHs. What an atmosphere!
A moment of silence in honour of Jimmy Bell. Perfectly observed.
The teams are out! Ibrox is electric. The roar that goes up when the home side emerge from the tunnel is Sandy Jardinesque. Straight outta ‘72. Rangers proudly sport their light blue, while Leipzig wear their first-choice white shirts with red splatters. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
Giovanni van Bronckhorst speaks to BT. “It’s the last hurdle to reach the final. We are going to enjoy, to fight hard, and do everything to get to the final. We can get a good start with these players. It’s very big that we have Aaron Ramsey on the bench, I am happy he is back in the squad. We are physically good, mentally the desire we have to win the semi for so many reasons. I am sure the players will give everything. It’s been a hard week, especially for Jimmy’s family, but also for the Rangers family. We still find it difficult, but of course there are moments in the locker room where we feel he is not there. But we should use those emotions to be strong when the whistle goes and make everyone proud and I am sure Jimmy is looking on us to push us forward and make sure we are able to win.”
Leipzig coach Domenico Tedesco speaks to BT Sport. “In Leipzig it was pretty close. Rangers defended really deep. Today, I don’t know if it will be from the beginning, but there will be one moment when they try to press us and attack. We played on Monday so we have made some changes to be fresh. On Monday we were not intensive, and this is the basis of football. We need to be very focused and intensive tonight.”
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Rangers have played German sides twice before at the semi-final stage of European competition. No need to be going into the 6-1 and 6-3 debacles against Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1959-60 European Cup ... other than to say payback, 62 years after the event, remains a live possibility. Instead, why not enjoy the 2-0 win over a Bayern Munich side preparing to rule Europe for most of the Seventies, arguably the signature game of the successful 1972 Cup Winners’ Cup campaign? Sandy Jardine’s first-minute piledriver was something else, and a fine template for his spiritual successor, goalscoring right-back James Tavernier, to follow. Over to you, James...
Earlier today, Rangers captain James Tavernier laid a wreath at Ibrox in memory of beloved kitman Jimmy Bell, who passed away on Tuesday. Giovanni van Bronckhorst and the rest of the squad also paid their respects. There will be a minute of silence to honour Bell before kick-off.
Rangers are unchanged from the first leg. Kemar Roofe has failed a fitness test, but Aaron Ramsey is good for a place on the bench.
Leipzig however make three changes to the XI named at the Zentralstadion last week. Yussuf Poulsen, Willi Orbán and Kevin Kampl, the latter two returning from suspension, are in; Tyler Adams, Dominik Szoboszlai and Marcel Halstenberg drop to the bench.
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The teams
Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Lundstram, Bassey, Barisic, Jack, Aribo, Kamara, Wright, Kent.
Subs: Diallo, Davis, Ramsey, Sands, Balogun, McCrorie, Sakala, McLaughlin, Arfield, Lowry, King.
RB Leipzig: Gulacsi, Gvardiol, Orban, Klostermann, Henrichs, Laimer, Kampl, Angelino, Nkunku, Olmo, Poulsen.
Subs: Simakan, Forsberg, Tschauner, Adams, Szoboszlai, Mukiele, Halstenberg, Martinez, Andre Silva, Raebiger, Novoa.
Referee: Artur Soraes Dias (Porto).
Preamble
Rangers are one big push away from their first European final since 2008. RB Leipzig lead 1-0 after last week’s first leg, and go into tonight’s return as favourites to progress to the Seville final against either Eintracht Frankfurt or West Ham United. But Rangers have already seen off one Bundesliga team, the tournament favourites Borussia Dortmund, so nothing is impossible. Also, this is Ibrox. And if they don’t have enough reason to give it everything tonight, they’ll be playing in memory of Jimmy Bell, literally part of the fabric of the club as kitman for more than 30 years, who passed earlier this week. Sleep well, Jimmy, and may the best team win. Kick off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
