VAR should have saved us in Leipzig, says Van Bronckhorst

GIOVANNI van Bronckhorst has questioned the legitimacy of RB Leipzig’s winner in Thursday night’s Europa League semi-final first leg. A brilliant 85th-minute volley by Angelino broke dogged resistance from Rangers in the Red Bull Arena and gave the Germans a 1-0 advantage to take to Ibrox next week. Television pictures showed Andre Silva and Lukas Klostermann in offside positions as Angelino struck from the edge of the area, with Silva standing closer to Rangers keeper Allan McGregor. Van Bronckhorst isn’t sure whether VAR officials checked if the Leipzig players were interfering with the goalkeeper’s line of sight. Asked about the possibility of the goal being ruled offside, the Rangers manager said: ‘After the game, we saw some images where Allan appeared not to have a good view on the ball. ‘I think Angelino hit the ball almost perfect, but you want your goalkeeper to have a chance. ‘I think they checked it with VAR. I’m not sure they watched the positions of those players. ‘But it’s a discussion after the game when the goal has counted. ‘We have to prepare well for next week. I think the players did an excellent performance, really close in bringing a really good result back to Ibrox. ‘Now we have to win this tie with a one-goal difference back at Ibrox. We have shown we are capable of doing so and the crowd will always give us a lot of energy to play these games.’ Rangers stayed overnight in Germany after the match, undertaking a training session before flying back to Glasgow yesterday afternoon to step up preparations for tomorrow’s Old Firm game at Parkhead. The Ibrox side require victory to maintain their slim title hopes and know defeat would effectively crown Celtic as champions. Van Bronckhorst reported no significant new injury concerns but admitted there may be alterations to his selection as he juggles the derby with next Thursday’s second leg against Leipzig. ‘It’s always short after the Thursday game in Europe to prepare for the weekend,’ added the Ibrox boss. ‘But I think it’s very important to recover well and make sure we have a good look and feel about the players. Tomorrow, we make the plan for Sunday. ‘It’s still too early to say who’s going to play or not. Especially in these weeks where you have so many games, you have to rotate players at some point. ‘But how many players? I will know tomorrow.’