Rangers FC went through to the last-16 of Europa League via 6-4 aggregate win over Borussia Dortmund and will face any one of the eight group winners in the next round.
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Rangers FC head coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst was delighted with his team’s performance after the 2-2 draw against Borussia Dortmund on Thursday to go through to the Last-16 of Europa League. The Scottish side had defeated Dortmund 4-2 in the first leg fixture at Westfalenstadion last week and with yet another “massive” performance they went through via 6-4 aggregate victory. James Tavernier netted a double for Rangers while Dortmund scored through Jude Bellingham and Donyell Malen at Ibrox Stadium.
Bronckhorst’s side will next face any one of the eight Europa League group winners in Friday’s draw.
The last 16 is set ✅#UEL pic.twitter.com/pYFqiXDWQz
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) February 24, 2022
“If you can beat Dortmund and get a good result at home then it has to give you confidence,” said the Rangers boss. We knew it was going to be difficult to overcome this round. I am very happy that we did it and in the last 16 there will be big teams.
“But the most important thing is that we have to have the belief to be able to compete against anyone. And we also need great performances like the the first one away which gave us a two-goal lead.
“Today we had another massive performance. We are facing tough opposition in the next round so for us it’s a big moment to challenge ourselves against the best and make sure we get some good performances again.”
Rangers took the lead from the penalty spot on 22 minutes. Brendt’s trailing leg caught Ryan Kent just inside the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Tavernier stepped up and smashed the ball straight into the roof of the net, making the score 1-0.
But Dortmund responded pretty well to equalise within two minutes of the opening goal when a poor clearance from Connor Godson handed the ball to Bellingham inside the box and the Englishman fired home past Allan McGregor at the near post.
And then, the visitors put their nose in front three minutes before the break. Right-back Meunier’s cross somehow found its way to Brandt at the far post, who laid the ball for Malen to prod in from close range.
AS Bronckhorst’s side went into the break trailing by a goal, the Dutch tactician switched to a 3-5-2 formation after the interval. Dragging John Lundstram back into the heart of his backline and pressing Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos higher up the pitch.
The change worked for the hosts as Tavernier scored his second of the night in the 57th minute. Calvin Bassey showed great upper body strength to skip past Marius Wolf on the left flank and deliver a cross for Tavernier to volley in at the far post.
“We had three scenarios ready to be implemented if needed,” said the Rangers boss. “We didn’t want to start that way as we wanted to start on the front foot. We made the decision to change things at half-time with Leon Balogun going on and I think we became much more solid defensively. In this system you just need to be ready for the moments you get in transition, which we did.”
