Rangers have experienced what it’s like to be humiliated in Europe.
Losing all six matches and conceding 22 goals along the road, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Rangers club created history for all the wrong reasons during a painful 2022 Champions League group-stage campaign.
Rangers suffered three straight losses at home to Liverpool (7-1), 4-0 to Ajax, and 3-0 to Napoli; three weeks after Jurgen Klopp’s team went wild on Glasgow’s blue side, Van Bronckhorst lost his job.
Naturally, Brendan Rodgers will not experience the same fate as the man currently holding the Besiktas captaincy. Rangers, though, must have enjoyed seeing Celtic’s seven-goal thrashing at the hands of a powerful Borussia Dortmund in midweek.
especially since a prior transfer target of the Gers was engulfed in a yellow-and-black tumult.
Auston Trusty, a former Rangers target, looked foolish in the Celtics loss.
With the departure of Aaron Rodgers’ outstanding center-half Cameron Carter-Vickers for the match at Signal Iduna Park, Celtic would have understood that their task had became slightly more difficult.
However, it’s doubtful that even the most pessimistic Hoops fan could have predicted the humiliation that would occur if Carter-Vickers hadn’t been there to steady the Celtic defensive.
Auston Trusty, who took his position, has been waiting his entire life to play in the Champions League. It would be an understatement to suggest that Trusty lived up to his moniker or that his dream turned into a nightmare.
Of course, the former Arsenal player wasn’t entirely to blame. Rodgers has taken a large portion of the flak. With a somewhat naive gameplan, Dortmund’s quick transitions made his team vulnerable to the team that has seen more than its fair share of European humiliations during his two stints at Celtic.
In recent decades, Rangers have often beaten their Old Firm rivals in continental competition. A more practical strategy was used by Philippe Clement, Steven Gerrard, and [at first] Van Bronckhorst to better shield their backline from elite opponents.
And Trusty may be secretly hoping that Rodgers takes a cue from Rangers’ playbook when Celtic play RB Leipzig, Atalanta, and company if he wants to avoid being left so vulnerable again.
Philippe Clement is happy with the connection between Robin Propper and John Souttar. Rangers had targeted Trusty, a recent Celtic acquisition, back in 2023, before the USA international completed his £5 million transfer to Sheffield United.
This is definitely not the start that Trusty would have been looking for in green and white, especially considering that he would move to Glasgow 12 months later for a comparable amount. He could have believed that these kinds of setbacks were behind him when Trusty managed to avoid relegation from Sheffield United during a miserable 2023–2024 season.
Rangers, meanwhile, will play home to Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday night. Their central defensive tandem has won six straight games without conceding a goal.
Furthermore, the combined cost of John Souttar and Robin Propper was approximately £3.5 million less than what Celtic ultimately paid for Trusty, the one-time Ibrox target.
During his pre-Lyon press conference, Clement praised Souttar and Propper’s improving understanding, saying, “It’s better and better.”
Leon Balogun, who is still with us, is outstanding in his capacity and has demonstrated high calibre training. We have Dujon [Sterling] or Nana [Neraysho Kasanwirjo], who can play centre back.
“Propper and Souttar’s collaboration has gone well. In order for new players to get to know one another, it’s also critical that you establish partnerships and ties with them.
“In that way, you may also add [left-back] Jefte. New to the defence is half of it. Our number six is new. Thus, you must discover the ever-better balance.
It is true that individuals have a strong desire to improve and commit fewer errors if you extract the lessons from each debrief. It’s encouraging to see that we’ve had four straight spotless sheets.
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