Rangers’ Van Bronckhorst eyes ‘another proud moment’ in Europa League final
Giovanni van Bronckhorst immediately set his sights on winning the Europa League after Rangers sealed a Seville final meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt by beating RB Leipzig on a famous evening at Ibrox.
“We will prepare well and try to create another proud moment for this club,” said the Rangers manager. “We don’t have to do anything different in terms of preparation than we have done so far. Of course the pressure will be different for a final but we still have to play to our strengths. Finals are always nice if you win them and that’s what we want to do.
“Anything you do starts with belief. Do we believe we can win the final? Of course we believe we can win the final but we respect the team [Eintracht] and will prepare well.”
Having lost the first leg by the only goal, James Tavernier and Glen Kamara had afforded Rangers a 2-0 lead at half-time. Leipzig responded though their prolific forward Christopher
Nkunku 20 minutes from time but John Lundstram had the final say after the visiting goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi
failed to deal with a routine cross.
“It’s been an amazing night,” said Van Bronckhorst. “We had the start we wanted, it was important to score first in this game. At half-time we knew it would be hard because they needed to push and they did. I knew the next goal would be decisive, John’s goal gave us the energy and power to play the closing minutes.
“I am very proud. The interaction with the fans was amazing. I have had so many games here as player and manager but the atmosphere here was incredible.”
Van Bronckhorst reflected once more on the Rangers kit man of more than 30 years, Jimmy Bell, who died suddenly following Sunday’s draw at Celtic Park. The Rangers players and their management paused to toast Bell’s life amid dressing room celebrations. “We will miss him for the rest of our lives,” Van Bronckhorst said.
Domenico Tedesco, the Leipzig manager, believed his team were guilty of overplaying in front of goal. He added: “The atmosphere is one of the best I have encountered, every [Rangers] player was pushed by that. We needed to make it 2-2 and never let it go to 3-1. It was all too easy, the final goal we conceded.”