Rangers crash out after Dejan Ljubicic fires late winner for Rapid Vienna
Steven Gerrard said Rangers will need January reinforcements after watching his side miss out on the Europa League last 32.
Rangers needed to beat Rapid Vienna in their final Group G match if they were to follow Villarreal through to the knockout rounds. Their remarkable journey that started on 12 July as they were forced to battle through four qualifiers came to an end after Dejan Ljubicic’s late winner sealed victory for Rapid.
Rangers travelled to the Austrian capital without three key men – the injured Ryan Kent, the suspended Daniel Candeias and the “unsettled” Ovie Ejaria – and their lack of cutting edge was their undoing against an ordinary Rapid.
Gerard said: “We’ve certainly been tested. In terms of numbers, I think we have had enough to cope. But to compete at this level, with ambitions to go further than the group, it’s obvious to me that the players need some help. That means quality players.”
Rangers settled quicker than Rapid and almost grabbed a breakthrough midway through the first half but Connor Goldson headed against the bar.
They found it harder after the interval and their adventure came to an end six minutes from time when Ljubicic pounced.
“I thought we were good for 80 minutes,” Gerrard said. “I can’t really ask the players to give any more from what we had available. We gave an almighty effort. As the game was getting to the final stages we were trying to roll the dice and be more adventurous to try to create something. Unfortunately we’ve conceded a counterattack but it’s very hard for me to criticise the players for what they gave.”
He said: “Once we analyse the whole journey we’ll certainly take ourselves back to Moscow at home, 0-0, a couple of chances we missed. We’ll take ourselves back to Moscow away when we scored a perfectly good goal [that was wrongly disallowed].
“We could’ve put ourselves in a better position but it wasn’t to be. If you analyse the whole journey the players have done fantastically well but the reality is that at this level we fell a bit short. It’s my job to try to address that.”