Five things we learned from Ibrox
Brown’s concern for elderly fans trumps title charge
This Europa League last-16 match could be the last Bayer Leverkusen play in front of a packed stadium for a while due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The return leg of this double header in the BayArena next Thursday will take place behind closed doors. If, that is, it goes ahead at all. A meeting on Tuesday convened by UEFA will determine if the Europa League continues or not.
Rangers, too, look set to play their final Ladbrokes Premiership matches of the 2019/20 campaign inside empty grounds following the Old Firm game against Celtic on Sunday.
But COVID-19 didn’t prevent a bumper crowd of 47,494 rocking up in Govan last night and enjoying the occasion fully. The Rangers fans in attendance were certainly in fine voice and helped to create an electric atmosphere.
Steven Gerrard indicated he was considering dropping Alfredo Morelos and starting Florian Kamberi due to the underwhelming form of his leading scorer in 2020 at his pre-match press conference.
In the end, he kept faith with the man who had netted 14 goals in the Europa League before Christmas probably due to his greater European experience.
But the Colombian hardly saw any of the ball during the first half. Broxi Bear could have led the line for all the impact he had.
Morelos forced a save from Lukas Hradecky after being supplied by James Tavernier in the second and was unlucky to be beaten to a Kamberi pass by
Jonathan Tah a few yards out shortly after that. But it wasn’t one of the forward’s best nights.
Polish referee Szymon Marciniak made himself the most unpopular man in Ibrox when he stopped play in the first half to review a replay of an incident on the pitchside monitor and then awarded Leverkusen a penalty which Kai Havertz buried.
Marciniak, though, was quite correct. Rangers centre-half George Edmundson handled a Charles Aranguiz cross above shoulder height. Under the new rules, the match official had to give a spot kick.
Rangers looked to be heading out of the competition when they fell 2-0 down to Braga at home in the last round. But they fought back to claim a famous 3-2 win.
When Edmundson headed home a Tavernier corner in the 75th minute to make it
2-1 hopes were high in the stands that they could pull off another improbable comeback. They couldn’t produce a repeat performance, but deserve credit for how they battled bravely to the final whistle.
They came through four qualifying rounds for the second season running, beat Feyenoord and Porto in the group stages and defeated Braga home and away in the last 32. But Rangers met their match last night. Leverkusen were vastly superior. It is impossible to see them progressing, if the Europa League isn’t abandoned, after this trouncing on their own turf.
CELTIC captain Scott Brown has insisted that public safety comes before the Parkhead side’s record-equalling ninein-a-row title challenge.
Neil Lennon’s side are 13 points clear of Rangers, who they face on Sunday afternoon, but there is widespread uncertainty over what the next few weeks will bring as the coronavirus takes a grip.
At the very least there is an anticipation that there will be games played behind closed doors, but it remains plausible there could be a postponement or abandonment to the conclusion of the season in a bid to contain the virus.
“I think the thing is that we have to make sure everyone is safe first,” said Brown. “They are saying that it will affect elderly people more and there are a lot of older people who come to our games. We have to take any precautions to make sure they stay safe.
“I think it is a worry for everyone. You have got Hearts fighting a relegation battle, you have teams in the lower leagues wanting to get up through the play-offs. I don’t know what is going to happen. We are just going day by day but every day it seems to get more serious.”
Sunday’s game at Ibrox is expected to go ahead under normal terms but given the rapidly shifting nature of circumstances surrounding the virus, that could yet change.
“We love playing at Celtic Park in front of our fans and they are always there when we go to Ibrox or Easter Road or Tynecastle or wherever,” said Brown. “It is what makes football, football.
“It would be weird playing any game behind closed doors – it doesn’t matter who it’s against – Rangers, Livingston or Aberdeen.
“Here’s hoping we can get all the games on telly if it comes to that stage so they [the fans] can still watch it.”