UNION PREPARED FOR IBROX ‘HELL’
Van der Heyden tells his team-mates they will have to run the gauntlet in Glasgow
SIEBE VAN DER HEYDEN knows what is coming. Next Tuesday evening, the Union Saint-Gilloise defender admits Ibrox will be a living ‘hell’ for all those in the Belgian ranks.
They will be up against a Rangers team desperate to rescue their Champions League dream amid an atmosphere well established as one of the most fearsome in Europe. Better teams than Union have felt the heat on Edmiston Drive and simply melted away.
Van der Heyden doesn’t show any trepidation, though. This is a challenge he is ready to embrace. He hopes the same goes for all of Karel Geraerts’ squad as they aim to follow up this week’s convincing 2-0 first-leg success by securing a play-off tie against either Monaco or PSV Eindhoven.
Rangers meekly allowed Union to settle into a temporary home at UH Leuven’s Den Dreef Stadion — being used due to their Stade Joseph Marien not being up to UEFA standards.
A first-half goal from captain Teddy Teuma (pictured) was followed by a controversial penalty, coolly converted by Dante Vanzeir, to assemble an advantage beyond their pre-match expectations.
Van der Heyden described it as the biggest result in the club’s history.
It could have been even bigger. While the handball decision against Connor Goldson provided more evidence that VAR is not infallible, Giovanni van Bronckhorst was right to assert his woefully ‘below-par’ side could easily have conceded more. It was a worrying 90 minutes after a partial rebuild with seven summer signings.
Weak at Teuma’s opener, Jon McLaughlin made a clutch of subsequent saves to limit the scoreline. The last of those, halting Vanzeir on the break, effectively kept alive hope of a comeback.
Union still celebrated with some abandon after the final whistle, but Van der Heyden stressed that should not be mistaken for thinking the job is done. Not by a long shot. Not when Ibrox must be encountered.
‘I’m not scared,’ insisted the 24-year-old, capped once by Belgium. ‘I’m really confident in my team but we know it will be hell for us there.
‘We know there will be 50,000 fans there screaming at us for 90 minutes. We have to be concentrated from the beginning.
‘The first 20 minutes, especially, will be very important for us — to stay in our shape and not switch off.
‘The first leg was fantastic. The whole team was concentrated from the start, which was necessary against a very good opponent. Rangers made it to the Europa League final last year, so we had to be fully aware for the whole match.
‘It was a great result for the team but there is still a game waiting for us in Glasgow and it will be very tough for us, even with a 2-0 lead.’
Newly-promoted last term, Union won away at Anderlecht, Standard Liege and Royal Antwerp — three of Belgium’s more traditionally hostile venues. So does that bolster confidence ahead of Glasgow?
‘I think we played well last season but now it’s a new season and we need to prove we can do the same,’ added Van der Heyden. ‘It won’t be easy at all but we have a team with a big mentality and a good football style. I think we can go far with this.’
Van Bronckhorst hopes to have Alfredo Morelos available to play some part in the second leg. Even after a four-month injury absence, the return of Rangers’ all-time top European goalscorer might inject some attacking life into a team dismally short of vibrancy in Leuven.
It bore similarities to the first half against Livingston last Saturday. Only this time, the Ibrox players failed to snap out of their malaise. Van Bronckhorst was slow to make changes and the 67th-minute introductions of debutants Ben Davies and Ridvan Yilmaz did little to alter the flow of the game.
Malik Tillman offered some flashes of creativity but fellow newcomer Rabbi
We know there will be 50,000 fans screaming for 90 minutes
Matondo was unable to make an impact. Up front, Antonio Colak completely failed to connect with a Tillman cross in his one chance of a thoroughly ineffective evening. Speaking on Monday, coach Geraerts highlighted Matondo as a major threat following his impressive loan spell at Cercle Brugge last season. Van der Heyden was delighted to block out the Wales winger. ‘It’s not just me,’ he said. ‘It was the whole team. We did well. We stayed together and we stopped Rangers creating.
‘He (Matondo) was my direct opponent but it was a team effort to make sure we didn’t concede.’
Asked if he was surprised by how little Rangers offered, Van der Heyden was diplomatic.
‘I’m someone who looks at our own performance and I think we did very well,’ he said. ‘We stayed in a block and were just waiting for them and, in the right moments, we tried to attack in our way.’
Now under the ownership of Brighton chairman Tony Bloom, Union had been out of the Belgian top-flight for 49 years before running Club Brugge close for the title last term. They played in the old Fairs Cup prior to it gaining UEFA recognition, but Tuesday night’s defeat of Rangers was a result instantly stamped in their history.
‘Yeah it’s the biggest,’ argued Van der Heyden. ‘It’s 58 years since the club was last in European football, so you know this is big. You saw at the end, all the fans standing up and cheering us. It was amazing, but I don’t want to say we’re favourites to go through.
‘As I said, it will be hell in Glasgow.’
The first leg was also a personal redemption story for Vanzeir. His missed penalty against Brugge in the end-of-season play-offs proved a turning point in the title race, so there was admiration for the way he stepped up to send McLaughlin the wrong way.
‘Honestly, I’m so happy for him,’ said Van der Heyden. ‘It will give him the extra confidence which he needs. I’m so proud of him that he took the responsibility to take that penalty. You need big b***s for that situation and he showed he has them.’