A HARSH DOSE OF REALITY

Lethal Leverkusen put emphatic end to Rangers’ dream of European glory

THIS time there was no stunning Bragastyle late triumph. No acts of improbable Europa League heroism. You can never be sure with this Rangers side. For all their toils and troubles in domestic football, they get the sniff of blood in their nostrils on the Continental stage and they’re a different animal.

In the last 32, they were two goals down in the first leg against Braga after 66 minutes and still found a way to preserve the unbeaten home record of Steven Gerrard in Europe.

With 15 minutes left to play of this last-16 first leg, Ibrox sensed that lightning might strike twice.

They were two goals down again, a first-half penalty awarded on the say-so of VAR converted by talented 20-year-old Kai Havertz. When Chilean midfielder Charles Aranguiz doubled Leverkusen’s lead after 67 minutes all looked lost until George Edmundson headed Rangers back into the game from a corner.

It proved a false dawn in the end, a sublime strike two minutes from time by Jamaican substitute Leon Bailey all but ending hopes of progression to the last eight. Assuming coronavirus doesn’t do so first in the midst of a fluid situation.

Give Rangers their due. They handed out the red, white and blue flags for the fans to wave, switched on the floodlights, turned up the tunes and asked people to make all the noise they could muster. Doing their bit for public health by failing to lay a glove on their opponents in the first half, a spirited second-half performance couldn’t shift the air of futility from the whole business.

Next Thursday night the second leg in Germany will be played to the surreal backdrop of an empty BayArena in Leverkusen, assuming it’s played at all. In a fastmoving scenario, UEFA can do their worst now. By hook or by crook, Rangers’ Euro adventure looks to be coming to a close now.

While Europe’s governing body delay the inevitable, politicians and governing bodies across the Continent have taken firm decisive action. Games have been postponed. Leagues have been mothballed. The same can’t be said of England or Scotland, where indecision is final.

So it was, then, that 47,494 fans rolled up in the midst of a pandemic to watch a game in a competition which faces the likelihood of suspension next week.

Should the Europa League stagger on in empty stadia, there’s no guarantee Rangers will now carry on with it after a humbling first-leg loss to the team sitting fifth in the Bundesliga. The team assembled by Peter Bosz were a step-up from any side they’d faced so far. Even when Edmundson’s header gave Rangers a slither of hope it was brutally snuffed out.

In two games against FC Copenhagen in the last 32, Celtic experienced the slings and arrows of VAR. For Rangers, the Leverkusen breakthrough from the penalty spot was a first.

The red-shirted Germans dominated the opening stages of the game. A dangerous incursion down the left flank resulted in a back-post strike from Karim Bellarabi being blocked by Borna Barisic. Kerem Demirbay shot straight down the throat of Allan McGregor.

Rangers finally seemed to be winning some possession and territory when Big Brother intervened. With 34 minutes played, a cross from Aranguiz struck the outstretched left hand of defender Edmundson. The Polish referee made the long run to the sidelines to check the video monitor and, after an interminable wait, Szymon Marciniak pointed to the spot. It was the right decision.

A rising star of German football, Havertz ignored the boos and the jeers of the Rangers support to send McGregor diving to his left as he fired the ball low down the middle into the net.

For Rangers to make an impact, they had to find a way to unsettle opponents who played on the rutted pitch as if wearing slippers. The introduction of Florian Kamberi for Joe Aribo after 53 minutes almost made a quick difference.

All but invisible in the first half, Alfredo Morelos finally burst into the game. A probing Ryan Kent cross towards the back post dropped just beyond the Colombian.

Within a minute, Morelos forced a fine save from Leverkusen keeper Lukas Hradecky — his first of the game — after James Tavernier burst into space and picked out the striker’s angled run. Sensing a new energy and purpose in their team, the home supporters responded. For the first time in the game they were asking questions, forcing Leverkusen into errors.

It took a timely Jonathan Tah sliding tackle to deny Morelos a tap-in when Kamberi dispossessed defender Edmond Tapsoba in his own area and rolled the ball across the face of goal.

All of which made the despair feel worse when the roof collapsed in the 67th minute.

There had been an escape two minutes earlier when, from a Leverkusen corner, Steven Davis managed to head a hooked netbound shot from Aranguiz off the line. From the resultant corner, sustained pressure saw Tavernier clear Tah’s probing cross as far as the lurking Aranguiz.

There was no mistake this time as the Chilean thumped a brilliantly controlled strike low into the net from 18 yards.

In the home leg against Braga, Rangers were two goals down and seemingly down and out when they launched a stunning fightback in the 67th minute. This time they left it a little later.

Ibrox had fallen into a pensive silence when an unmarked Edmundson headed a Tavernier corner in off the inside of the upright for 2-1. Suddenly the home supporters were back in the game. So, for that matter, were Rangers.

The optimism proved shortlived. With 11 minutes to play, Aranguiz curled a sublime freekick against the face of the crossbar with McGregor beaten. Rangers breathed again, albeit briefly.

The killer blow came with two minutes to play, sub Bailey curling a superb finish high into the postage-stamp corner after a fine darting one-two with Moussa Diaby.

Running to celebrate with the Union Bears was never the smartest idea, a bottle thrown in the scorer’s direction.

UEFA have other matters on their mind now, but seem unlikely to let the incident pass. For Rangers, it was a disappointing end to a disappointing night.