RANGERS manager Pedro Caixinha has told his players to treat their second leg against Progres Niederkorn like the Europa League final.
Caixinha’s squad travelled to Luxembourg for tonight’s first qualifying-round game with a 1-0 lead after European football returned to Ibrox last week following a six-year hiatus.
The Portuguese coach is looking for a more aggressive performance from his side and he left them in no doubt he wants them to go for victory at the Stade Josy Barthel.
Caixinha told Rangers TV: “You need to get on this game like it is a final – you are drawing the game and the team that wins, wins the trophy. That is the way we need to think about it.
“We know what to expect now and we think they are going to behave the same way. Most of the time you put on an opponent’s mind in order to see what they are going to do and how they are going to perform in order to organise the game, and I think they are going to do the same.
“That was the point to which we worked, knowing what to expect, and we have worked on going a little bit more out to occupy spaces, explore spaces and be better in the last third.
“We need to do exactly the same, and with those points in consideration, we need to play quickly and we need to be more aggressive on our offensive style.
“Sometimes we have to be more direct, looking even more to the goal than to preparing the build-up to the attack when it is not needed. And, we want to start strongly in order to impose our game on our opponent, and try to score as soon as possible.”
Caixinha felt only the final ball or finish was lacking when Rangers hosted their opponents last week.
He added: “So after six years, the first match of the season, and the first European match for many players in the squad, we did very well, and tomorrow, I think we will do even better.
“We are leading the game and we are not worried about the away goal. We are just worried about developing our process, and of course, always thinking about winning the game and by winning the game you have the away goal present.”
Rangers travelled without Barrie McKay, who is in their Europa League squad but has been training with the under-20s amid reports linking Nottingham Forest and Cardiff with potential moves for the winger, who has a year left on his contract.
Mexican signings Carlos Pena and Eduardo Herrera were in the 20-man party after failing to make the bench for the first leg and Caixinha revealed one of them would be on the bench.
Rangers coach Jonatan Johansson also believes they will be better off for getting their tense Europa League opener out of the way.
Johansson said: “The first game was always going to be a little bit tense, with the crowd and everything else, it was a fantastic occasion at Ibrox.
“For some of the players it was their first time together and their first time at Ibrox, so it was always going to be tense.
“I don’t think it’s going to be easy away from home, it will be a tough game, we are not underestimating the task in any way. But I also feel very confident.
“It’s good to play together and it will definitely have helped the guys for this game.
“We had them watched many times and we knew it was going to be hard,” the former Rangers and Finland striker said. “They are very well organised, they fight hard. It was the biggest game in their history so we knew it was going to be tough. There are no easy games in Europe.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here