Rangers punished by ruthless Club Brugge in Champions League clash | OneFootball

Rangers Defensive Collapse Exposes Brutal Reality Against Club Brugge

Forty minutes into Rangers’ mortifying night at Ibrox, Djeidi Gassama won a corner at the Broomloan Stand end and his manager, Russell Martin, applauded on the sideline. The sound of one man clapping was deafening.

At that stage Rangers trailed 3-0. Boos had already echoed around the stadium and large swathes of supporters had begun their early exit. This was not an ordinary defeat, it was a chastening spectacle.

When Ibrox turns on its own, the intensity is unlike anywhere else. The anger was raw, words flying like blades, cutting deep into their targets.

The context was clear. Rangers had stumbled into this collapse, and under Martin, there is one defined way of playing, yet little sign of defensive fortitude.

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Defensive frailties laid bare

Caution has been abandoned in favour of all-out attack. Everybody is urged forward, leaving little in terms of midfield structure, defensive organisation, or commanding presence at the back. Cynicism, strength, and tactical nous have been absent. Rangers looked vulnerable from the first whistle.

“They could have shipped five or six in this game.” That grim reality summed up how porous they appeared. Against opponents like Panathinaikos and Viktoria Plzen in earlier rounds, fortune had smiled. Poor defending went unpunished, headers were missed, runners not tracked, and Jack Butland was repeatedly forced into heroics. That luck finally deserted them, and Club Brugge capitalised.

Their attacking play has at times been fluid, but the defensive side remains alarmingly fragile.

Could Rangers really afford to hand out so many chances to a side like Club Brugge, who despite selling around £70 million worth of talent this summer, remain packed with slick and ruthless operators? The answer came swiftly and painfully.

After just three minutes, Nasser Djiga hesitated fatally. Romeo Vermant was allowed to drift free and executed a stunning lob over Butland. Djiga, a loan signing from Wolves, has been praised for his athleticism and strength, but he looked passive in this moment. His lapse was unforgivable, reminiscent of his costly errors in the League Cup defeat to Alloa.

Butland had no chance, and Djiga’s decision to stop competing symbolised the malaise running through Rangers’ back line.

Early collapse sets the tone

The punishment continued. After only seven minutes, Jorne Spileers, unchallenged by a single blue shirt, side-footed home from a corner. This was the sort of slack marking Rangers had escaped in earlier games. Not this time.

And by the 20th minute, their Champions League hopes were in tatters. Brandon Michele pounced on Rangers’ hesitant attempts to clear the ball and rifled in a third.

“No came the answer again after 20 minutes when Rangers failed with two attempts to clear their box, a hesitancy and incompetence that saw Brandon Michele rifle a third past Butland.”

The atmosphere was toxic. The prayers of supporters were no longer for a miracle comeback, but simply for the nightmare to end without further humiliation. This was, in essence, Rangers being spared the deeper embarrassment that had cost Giovanni van Bronckhorst his job in a previous European campaign.

Martin’s challenge and the Brugge reality

Russell Martin’s vision is clear. He wants a Rangers team that plays expansive football, but he has inherited and assembled a defensive line that is alarmingly brittle. In his short tenure, he has signed numerous players, yet somehow the defence has regressed further.

The second-half rally offered some relief. Rangers pulled a goal back, pressed Club Brugge high, and created chances. For a fleeting spell they carried threat and avoided further damage. But the scoreline remained deceptive, less ugly perhaps, yet never genuinely hopeful.

Brugge had exposed weaknesses that will not be solved overnight. Rangers still look years away from being a credible Champions League force.

Martin’s refusal to adapt at Southampton is now a lingering concern. His stubbornness to compromise his ideals was costly there, and unless he adjusts, Rangers risk a repeat. Other managers, such as Brendan Rodgers after Celtic’s hammering by Borussia Dortmund, have recognised the need to alter their tactical blueprint in Europe. For Martin, this must be the next step, or else the boos at Ibrox will grow louder, and the doubts more entrenched.

Critical weeks ahead

The fixture list does not offer breathing space. Rangers face St Mirren away, Brugge away, Celtic at home, followed by Hearts and Hibernian at Ibrox. Each of those sides will sense frailties to exploit.

Martin’s immediate challenge is survival, both in terms of results and credibility. St Mirren, under Stephen Robinson, represent a stern test. Brugge, with their attacking flair, will look to finish the job. Celtic, eternal rivals, need no invitation to expose weakness.

Football in Glasgow is unrelenting. Rangers supporters demand standards, and patience is rarely afforded. Martin knows that from his time as a Rangers player, and he feels it even more acutely now as manager.

It is painfully early in his tenure, but judgement comes quickly in Glasgow. Club Brugge have simply brought those issues into sharper focus. Unless Rangers find resilience at the back, the season ahead will feel longer and harder than anyone around Ibrox can stomach.