Rangers and Steven Gerrard feeling are the heat - but one myth needs dispelled ahead of Malmo acid test

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has plenty to ponder after his team's 1-0 defeat against Dundee United at Tannadice on Saturday. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)

Immediately after those back-to-back 1-0 defeats away to Hearts in the Scottish Cup and at home to Hamilton Accies in the Premiership all of 17 months ago, Rangers did grind out a 1-0 league win at Ross County before losing 3-1 to a fine Bayer Leverkusen side at Ibrox in the first leg of a Europa League round of 16 tie.

They were then scheduled to face a litmus test of their character, which was being widely questioned at the time, with an Old Firm showdown at Ibrox against a Celtic side 13 points ahead of them at the top of the Premiership table.

But like almost everything else in March 2020, the intensifying scrutiny then being placed on Gerrard and his squad was suspended when Scottish football was placed in cold storage by Covid-19.

Rangers will hope for another influential performance from their all-time leading European goalscorer Alfredo Morelos against Malmo at Ibrox on Tuesday night. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)

Feeling the heat

Fast forward to August 2021 and the heat is suddenly very much back on for a Rangers side currently discovering that the hard-earned and richly deserved kudos showered upon them for last season’s title-winning achievement can be cruelly ephemeral.

There is certainly no doubt that Gerrard faces one of the most significant examinations of his tenure in the second leg of the Champions League third qualifying round tie against Malmo at Ibrox on Tuesday night.

With last week’s 2-1 first leg reversal in Sweden being followed by Saturday’s unexpected 1-0 defeat against Dundee United at Tannadice in the Premiership, Rangers find themselves in troubling territory at the start of the new campaign.

Summer signing John Lundstram struggled to make a telling impact once again as Rangers lost 1-0 to Dundee United at Tannadice. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images,)

There is, of course, plenty of time for them to rediscover their mojo in the defence of a domestic title which they remain odds-on favourites to win.

But Rangers have no such margin for error in the Champions League as they attempt to reach the group stage of Europe’s elite club competition for the first time since 2010.

Seeking lift-off

Overcoming that first leg deficit against Malmo should be well within the capabilities of a Rangers squad who have excelled in the Europa League under Gerrard over the previous three seasons.

To secure a play-off round tie against either Greek giants Olympiacos or Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad, however, Gerrard must find a way to reignite a team currently missing the vital spark which allowed them to fire on all cylinders so effectively and consistently last season.

Rangers’ inability to reproduce that level of fluency in their last two games can be partially attributed to selection problems. There’s no doubt that the Uefa suspensions being served by midfielder Glen Kamara and forward Kemar Roofe are considerable handicaps, as was Roofe’s continued absence at Tannadice because of a family issue.

But it has been the drop-off in form, compared to last season, of those key players who are available to Gerrard which will be his biggest source of concern. He needs all of them to step up to the mark against a Malmo team who, while lacking in star quality, are robust and intelligently coached by Jon Dahl Tomasson.

Gerrard will hope that the 82 minutes Alfredo Morelos got into his legs at Tannadice can reap a dividend. The club’s all-time leading European goalscorer was clearly not at his sharpest, either in terms of his link-up play or finishing, and perhaps wouldn’t have been named in the starting eleven had Roofe been available.

Big-game hunters

But following his spell in quarantine after returning from international duty with Colombia last month, it was nonetheless a welcome return to action for Morelos which should have him better primed to try and deliver another influential performance on the European stage for Rangers.

Ryan Kent is another who has regularly risen to these types of occasions in the past. The winger, who was simply not at the races against United, needs to do so again if Rangers are to find the incisiveness in the attacking third of the pitch required to shake up the experienced and well organised Malmo defence.

The return from injury of Ianis Hagi should also enhance Rangers’ creativity and the variation of their play. In Sweden last week and at Tannadice, too much of their work was stilted and predictable.

As always, control of midfield will hold the key to their prospects of success and much will rest on the 36-year-old shoulders of Steven Davis whose 95th minute goal in the first leg has given Rangers a platform to work from on Tuesday.

But with Kamara still unavailable, Davis will need assistance from elsewhere.

John Lundstram was missing in action for much of the last two games and while the summer signing from Sheffield United can be cut some slack as he settles into a new league and different style of play than he was previously accustomed to, Rangers can’t afford to carry any passengers with so much on the line against Malmo.

They will be backed by the first capacity crowd inside Ibrox since that Leverkusen match just a few days before the first lockdown was imposed in March last year.

Much has been made – far too much – of whether this Rangers side will flourish or wilt in that environment after playing so much football behind closed doors. The evidence of their first two seasons in packed stadiums, both home and away, in the Europa League suggests nothing other than they can thrive amid the atmosphere their supporters will provide on a momentous night for Gerrard.

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