GIO HITS ROCK BOTTOM
Dutch deliver final insult as Rangers enter hall of shame
THE final indignity. At the end of an utterly tortuous Champions League campaign, the burden of unwanted history was added to Rangers’ agonies.
Zero points. Two goals scored. Twenty two conceded. A minus 20 goal difference. Statistically, the worst group-stage record of any side since the elite competition moved to its current format.
For a brief moment, it looked as though they might avoid being out on their own. James Tavernier sent an 87th-minute penalty beyond Remko Pasveer to diminish the deficit. A glimmer of hope appeared. But then Rangers were prised open one last time.
Dusan Tadic sent a curling pass in front of Ajax substitute Francisco Conceicao. He beat Allan McGregor. And that was it.
They will breathe a sigh of relief at Dinamo Zagreb. The Croats — with zero points and a minus 19 goal difference — had carried the bleak Champions League tag ever since season 2011-12. Twelve years on, it has been shifted to the southside of Glasgow.
In truth, this final assignment followed a familiar pattern for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men. Two goals down inside 29 minutes, they were resolutely second best for a sixth game out of six.
Steven Berghuis and Mohammed Kudus did the firsthalf damage. Just as they helped to do on matchday one when this marathon of misery started.
What an utterly dispiriting process it has been. The joy of qualification carries only the faintest echo now.
Van Bronckhorst didn’t benefit in the transfer market from the superb two-leg win over PSV Eindhoven that got Rangers here. Would it have made any difference? Maybe not. Or maybe one or two additional bodies through the door might have prevented the numbers in Group A from hitting an all-time nadir. We’ll never know.
Rangers’ other hope lay around 900 miles south-east of Glasgow. But Viktoria Plzen’s 4-2 loss at home to Barcelona in Group C wasn’t big enough to edge them ahead of Rangers in a race to the bottom.
The greatest damage wasn’t done last night. It was inflicted more deeply in Amsterdam — and deeper still in that shocking second-half collapse against Liverpool. Six goals leaked in 32 minutes. At home. Ibrox had never seen anything like it.
Some context still has to be applied. With nine players out through injury and John Lundstram suspended, Van Bronckhorst could have picked a credible outfield line-up from those not available.
James Sands and Leon King are no one’s idea of a first-choice centre-back partnership. Yet here they were. The last men standing. Ben Davies could be back for Sunday’s trip to St Johnstone, but Connor Goldson, John Souttar and the near-forgotten Filip Helander won’t be seen until sometime beyond the World Cup.
In midfield, Scott Arfield and Steven Davis — preferred ahead of fit-again Glen Kamara — were a partnership with a combined age of 71.
Unquestionably, failures of recruitment, tactics and mentality helped lead to this point. But the situation has also worsened through plain bad luck. It’s been an unholy combination.
That misfortune extended to the draw itself. Last season, Ajax were one of just three clubs — alongside Liverpool and Bayern Munich — to get through their section with a 100-per-cent record. While some big players have since departed Amsterdam, their position in Group A only served to underline its immense difficulty.
Not a single point was gathered from four games against Napoli and Liverpool, with 15 goals conceded in the process. Last time round they faced Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon and Besiktas. This time, like Rangers, Ajax have suffered vertigo when confronted by a higher class of opposition.
Even so, Van Bronckhorst was right to say they remain a level above his squad. Calvin Bassey embodies that fact. His £20million summer move to the Netherlands was proof greater riches don’t reside solely in Europe’s big five leagues.
Quality often resides in the details. And so it was again here. Where Rangers were untidy, Ajax were precise. Fashion Sakala failed to get his head up on an early break, unable to spot a chance to release Ryan Kent in behind the visitors’ defence. The chance was lost. When Ajax then pressed forward for a first time, the ball ended up in the net. Four minutes gone and the Ibrox men were already cut open.
It was a miserable concession. Tavernier was caught unaware as the ball was knocked in behind him for counterpart captain Tadic.
His cross was laid off by Kudus to Berghuis. McGregor was already on the seat of his pants by the time the midfielder netted with a cool, if slightly scuffed, finish.
Rangers looked stunned. Panic loomed every time Ajax advanced. They urgently needed to push back and, for a short spell in the first half, they did.
Kent surged forward on the left, perplexing his marker before lifting a cross to the far post. Fashion Sakala connected with a header but Bassey produced an excellent goal-line clearance. How Ibrox now rued his return.
Momentum shifted back to Ajax, aided by a hesitancy in their hosts.
At times, Rangers were left pursuing shadows as the Eredivisie leaders enjoyed possession. When a risky cross-field pass from King was picked off by Tadic, alarm bells were clanging once more. McGregor saved Kenneth Taylor’s shot but Van Bronckhorst’s side couldn’t reclaim composure or territory.
Arfield was shrugged off the ball in midfield as Ajax went again. Kudus was eventually set up for an effort that deflected off King to wrong-foot McGregor.
Two goals down, a third very nearly screeched into view when Steven Bergwijn went through. He was denied by a fine McGregor save.
The anguish kept coming, though. After Kudus fired a 37thminute strike narrowly off target, Ibrox responded with a chorus of boos aimed at the defensive failures.
It was a noise repeated at halftime. A shot count of 9-1 in Ajax’s favour neatly summed up another period of torment for Rangers and their utterly deflated supporters.
Alfred Schreuder’s side must have felt like they’d got the win. Still, though, they pursued a third goal to end any doubt.
It almost arrived ten minutes after the restart. An accurate, sweeping move led to substitute Devyne Rensch curling a perfect cross into the path of Kudus. He finished smoothly, but a VAR review spotted an offside.
Van Bronckhorst desperately needed something, anything, to provide a spark. With an hour gone, he opted for a triple
change. Off went Davis, Antonio Colak and Malik Tillman. Kamara, Alfredo Morelos and Scott Wright were introduced.
A rally of sorts followed. Arfield hooked in a fine left-foot shot that was touched over by Pasveer. Then Morelos robbed the Ajax goalkeeper, only to somehow screw wide with the whole goal gaping. It was a miss that encapsulated his personal decline on the European stage.
When substitute Rabbi Matondo — just on for Kent — was felled in the box, Tavernier coolly sent his spot-kick straight down the middle.
Any thought of a reprieve was a deception, though. There was one more bout of pain to come before the Champions League was done with this Rangers team.