Rangers enter dangerous waters of Lac Leman: Cyriel Dessers sacrifice, no time for team that needs it

On the shores of Lac Leman, it is time for this new-look Rangers team to sink or swim as they take on Servette in the second leg of their Champions League second round qualifier on Tuesday evening.

In truth, Michael Beale’s men should be in calmer waters than they are in Switzerland, where they defend a slender 2-1 advantage from last week’s first leg at Ibrox. Leading 2-0 after just 15 minutes against a Servette team minus eight first-team regulars, they missed a glorious chance to go three-up through Sam Lammers and then conceded a penalty to halve their lead. Even still, the final 30 minutes in Govan were played against ten men following David Douline’s red card. Only time will tell if Rangers’ inability to score more in Glasgow – and they had chances – will be costly.

Rangers are still the favourites to progress to the play-off round, with familiar foes PSV likely to await them. The Dutch team, who the Gers eliminated last year, lead Sturm Graz 4-1 from their first leg in Eindhoven and should see the job out in Austria. It’s more complicated for Beale. The Stade de Geneve will be packed to the rafters, with the locals hoping Servette can pull off a surprise once again. The Swiss are nothing but plucky, defying the odds to usurp Genk in the last round, playing almost the whole of the second leg with ten men. They left Scotland breathing a sigh of relief about how the match transpired, with manager Rene Weiler admitting they benefitted from luck.

Beale admitted last week was “tough”, the narrow win over Servette coming on the back of a 1-0 defeat by Kilmarnock. This time, they go into Europe on the back of a victory, vanquishing Livingston 4-0 at Ibrox at the weekend. That victory was not as emphatic as the scoreline suggests but it will have given Beale and his newly-assembled team some much-needed confidence. Four players – Danilo, Lammers, Abdallah Sima and Kieran Dowell – scored their maiden goals for the club.

Servette's Chris Bedia scores to make it 2-1 and making Rangers' assignment altogether more tougher.

Deprived of holding midfielder John Lundstram due to a personal issue, Ryan Jack is expected to come back into the team and anchor the midfield. Rangers will need some sort of enforcer, as Servette proved at Ibrox that they can transition quickly and cause problems. Beale has fielded three forwards in all of Rangers’ competitive matches so far but there must be a temptation to sacrifice one and bulk up midfield numbers. Nicolas Raskin’s tenacity is a must, while Todd Cantwell is the most dynamic player in the team. The manager rates new signing Jose Cifuentes highly and after coming through Livi unscathed is unlikely to be left out. Beale has talked up the qualities of the Ecuadorian highly and this isn’t the sort of match to go without him.

That would leave one of Beale’s three main forwards out of the team. The most likely candidate is Cyriel Dessers, whose performance on Saturday brought grumbles from his own fans. The Nigerian scored in the first leg against Servette but his display against Livingston looked leggy and his morale clearly drained as the match went on. Danilo and Sam Lammers appear in a better place but most of Rangers’ recent attacking work has come in the form of three narrow strikers. A system change would be required.

Perhaps taking the game to Servette will be Beale’s preferred solution, given that Rangers have hardly looked watertight in all of their matches so far. Ridvan Yilmaz and Ben Davies are set to miss out once more, so John Souttar will partner Connor Goldson at the back. The latter was rested for the match against Livingston, to keep him fresh for this match. The hosts will have Enzo Crivelli, a hulking, physical striker from Argentina back in their team, and with the tall Chris Bedia also in the front line, Souttar and Goldson are likely to have their hands full.

With nine new players in their ranks, this is the first serious test of this Rangers team’s mettle. Under Giovanni van Bronckhorst, they made it into the group stages of the Champions League with wins over Royale Union Saint-Gilloise and then PSV last season. It is worth remembering that they had to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg defeat in Belgium, using a packed Ibrox to will them on. Only a thousand or so Rangers fans will be in Geneva on Tuesday night. It will be a noisy, hostile environment. Beale has been here before as a coach with Rangers but many of his players are doing this for the first time.

Rangers' Scott Wright, Sam Lammers and Todd Cantwell at full time following the 2-1 win over Servette at Ibrox last week.

Already trailing Celtic by three points in the Premiership and with some supporters already restless due to recent performances, the margin for error is small. This Rangers team clearly needs time to gel, as all do when such a radical overhaul takes place. But when pursuing the promised land of the Champions League group stages, there is no time. Falling at the first hurdle would be a stain on this reconfigured Rangers team that they could do without. The experienced core of James Tavernier, Borna Barisic, Souttar and Jack will be so vital in keeping Rangers right and avoiding the less desirable group stages of the Europa League, which is the consolation prize should they lose.

Look at an image of Lac Leman from above and it has the shape of a shark. This is a dangerous assignment for Beale and his players. The hope is that not taking care of business at Ibrox will not come back to bite them.