Gerrard knows all about threegoal fightbacks

RANGERS are set to go hurtling into something of a twilight zone.

And they’ll be praying a state of disorientation can throw Bayer Leverkusen off track on Thursday if they’re to have any chance of a miraculous turnaround in the Europa League.

Steven Gerrard and his players go back to the future in the hope they can salvage some joy from a 2019-20 season that, for them at least, still isn’t over.

And should they turn around the Bundesliga giants’ 3-1 advantage to book a quarter-final spot then this will rival even Doc Brown’s magical DeLorean in terms of incredible journeys.

It might require three goals. It might need one of the world’s most talented young players Kai Havertz to be shackled. And it will definitely demand a slice of good fortune.

But if anyone knows about three-goal comebacks on foreign soil it’s Gerrard after his piece de resistance in a glorious playing career.

There might not be too many other parallels to draw between the challenge Rangers face and Liverpool’s outrageous Champions League glory night in Istanbul 15 years ago.

Except in the round of 16 Gerrard led his side into the BayArena – as he is about to do – and emerged with a 3-1 win.

Fanciful stuff of course but a repeat scoreline this week would take the game into extra time and swing the momentum firmly in Rangers’ favour.

And while the weight of expectation is all on the German side this could well be a chance for Gerrard’s players to express themselves free of the pressures that are to come on home soil.

Rangers know they won’t have large chunks of possession. They barely had a third of it at Ibrox. But should they utilise the counterattacking prowess that has made them such a threat on foreign soil under Gerrard then they can hurt the Germans.

That explosive pace and direct running of Ryan Kent, Ianis Hagi and Joe Aribo has already been evident in the past few weeks.

Then there’s Alfredo Morelos. While the Colombian might be short on numbers himself of late, it’s worth remembering his best work comes on this stage.

For any of this to be worthwhile it’s going to take a defensive effort of Herculean proportions.

But after Lyon, Nice, Motherwell, Coventry and Aberdeen all drew blanks against Gerrard’s

This may be chance for players to express themselves free of home pressures

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side in the past two-anda-half weeks, evidence is there this blue line have an understanding that was horribly missing in the first leg five months ago.

It’s still going to take Peter Bosz’s side to have an almighty off night.

But by the time the whistle echoes around the empty BayArena on Thursday evening it will have been 33 days since Leverkusen last kicked a ball in competitive anger.

That was in a 4-2 thumping from Bayern Munich in the German Cup Final. Yet heading into the first leg at Ibrox they came off a ninegame unbeaten run.

Gerrard will use every small advantage he can to have his players believing this tie isn’t dead. Maybe, just maybe, it’s not.