It was meant to be the Holy Grail but it ended in one massive fail.
One last shot at Champions League redemption but Rangers were left with very little Kudus and the worst record of any team in the group stages. It was seen as the promised land, but for Rangers it turned into the ultimate nightmare. They ended Group A embarrassingly bottom of the group, without a single point and just two goals to their name.
The powers of Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax were a bridge too far for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side. It was the Dutch side who cleaned up last night and ensured it was six defeats from six. Rangers were also left with a goal difference of minus 20, surpassing the previous record by Dinamo Zagreb back in 2011-12. The money may have boosted the Ibrox coffers, but it has done little for Rangers, as a team.
The writing was on the wall before a ball was even kicked last night, with Twitter posts from Rangers outlets saying: "Deal of the week. European mugs now £9." The first meeting of these teams set the tone for Gers’ Champions League return when the Ibrox men were mauled 4-0 in the Johan Cruyff Arena in the group opener.
Van Bronckhorst tried to bring a dose of reality to things after that game by saying Rangers couldn’t compete with the financial levels of their group rivals. But for a lot of Ibrox fans it felt like a white flag of surrender.
Yes, the odds were against the Light Blues but they still expected their team to make a better fist of things than they had, especially in front of their own support. Van Bronckhorst has insisted Rangers have had good spells in all games, Amsterdam aside, but couldn’t maintain it.
The other claim was that this was Rangers’ first tilt at the group stages of the Champions League since 2010-11 and just getting to this stage was an achievement. Yet, this was also a Rangers team who had defied the odds and claimed some big scalps on their way to last season’s Europa League Final.
They have also had to deal with key injuries. That was evident last night as the Ibrox side went into the game missing almost an entire team of players.
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John Lundstram was suspended, while Ben Davies, John Souttar, Connor Goldson, Filip Helander, Ianis Hagi, Ryan Jack, Tom Lawrence, Ridvan Yilmaz and Kemar Roofe were all injured. Their loss is always somebody’s else’s gain and one of the main benefactors has been Ibrox youngster Leon King.
The 18-year-old has had unbelievable exposure playing in every single one of Rangers’ Champions League games, starting three times. Ibrox hopes of Champions League progression had been extinguished last month and they had to beat the Dutch champs by five goals to pip them to third place and a Europa League spot.
That always looked a tall order but it didn’t stop the fans – including twins Ronald and Frank de Boer, who starred for both sides – from turning out in force and roaring on their team. A wall of noise greeted the Champions League theme tune but within four minutes the Ibrox crowd was stunned as Steven Berghuis gave Ajax the lead.
There was a bit of hope when Fashion Sakala went close but Ajax just upped the gears and Mohammed Kudus grabbed a deflected second. The biggest cheer after the break was VAR chalking off a Kudus goal until Scott Arfield’s shot was tipped over, then James Tavernier scored from the spot after sub Rabbi Matondo was fouled.
But there was more woe when Ajax sub Francisco Conceicao fired in a third. It’s been a painful campaign but these Rangers players must learn from it and do everything they can to get back to this stage again next season.
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