Rangers are dwelling in mediocrity during renovation - this is chance for somewhere good to live

Rangers have never been so close to the Champions League, yet so far away.

One more hurdle stands in the way of main-phase football in Europe’s premier competition and a £40 million windfall, but it is an enormous one. Club Brugge may not be a heavyweight opponent but with a 3-1 lead going into the second leg at their Jan Breydel Stadion, they are red-hot favourites to close out this Champions League play-off tie.

The Belgians are sitting comfortably after racing into a three-goal lead just 20 minutes into last week’s first leg at Ibrox. Perhaps their head coach Nicky Hayen will lament not inflicting more damage on Rangers. “We knew where the spaces were,” he tellingly said afterwards. His team was slightly negligent in throwing the Scots a bone in the second half.

Rangers train in Glasgow ahead of their Champions League play-off round second leg tie at Club Brugge. | SNS Group

Rangers deserve credit for their post-interval rally in Govan, in which they netted through Danilo and had a further goal chalked off for offside. Their own manager Russell Martin far from chucked in the towel afterwards, even if the majority of the club’s support have resigned themselves to the Europa League once more.

Rangers will parachute there should their Champions League qualification journey come to an end in Bruges. Martin and his players have already successfully navigated two previous ties, against Greek side Panathinaikos and Viktoria Plzen of Czech Republic. Success in those meetings came on the back of winning the first leg by at least two goals at Ibrox. No such cushion this time around.

The general consensus is that Rangers have more than met their match in Club Brugge, a side that progressed into the knock-out stages of the Champions League last season and have a level of continuity the Ibrox side can only wish for.

Plzen performance was exception, not the norm

Under new owners and a head coach in Martin, Rangers remain in a state of renovation. They deserve plenty of credit for getting this far, even if they rode their luck away from home and had to rely on goalkeeper Jack Butland. The 3-0 win at home to Plzen was impressive and a little glimpse of what could be achieved under Martin. But to much consternation of the increasingly peeved Rangers fanbase, that display is the exception, not the norm.

While apparently not under pressure from his superiors, Martin is feeling the heat from Rangers supporters. No Ibrox manager has started this poorly in the Premiership since 1985. One-one draws against Motherwell, Dundee and St Mirren are simply unacceptable for a club of such stature, even if there is a serious rebuild taking place. When moving house, you still find somewhere good to live.

Rangers are dwelling in mediocrity. Martin’s style of football has been met by numerous critics and new signings such as Max Aarons and Joe Rothwell are already being singled out by fans. They are prone to mistakes at the back, with little protection from midfield. And further up the pitch, only Djeidi Gassama carries a serious threat. It is concerning that winger Oliver Antman, a £5m signing whose debut was so impressive against Plzen, has regressed so quickly.

Martin is not helped by the Hamza Igamane saga, with the wantaway striker seemingly refusing to play, although the return of his best No 9 in Cyriel Dessers should help Rangers’ cause. Unfortunately the oft-maligned Nigerian can’t do everything - especially keep the back door bolted.

Rangers’ new era was never going to be truly judged on Champions League progression. This game is a free hit for Martin. A win would be the mother of all catalysts - not least in terms of a potential transfer windfall - but this team has as yet not shown nearly enough to suggest it belongs at Europe’s top table. They have one last chance to prove the swelling ranks of doubters wrong.