Rangers will play Hamburg in a friendly this summer but their status as a Bundesliga side has been agonisingly delayed.
Needing a win against SV Sandhausen and for Heidenheim to drop points, our brothers from Germany couldn’t have missed out on automatic promotion in a more agonising fashion.
Two goals deep into injury time saw Rangers partners Hamburg have their promotion celebrations brutally halted by Heidenheim, as reported by Infogol.
Rangers announced an official partnership in 2021 with the Bundesliga 2 outfit, a friendship that has grown since the 1970’s.
A shared love of Jorg Albertz rekindled a common bond that has now been formalised and a summer meeting between the two sides should be a memorable occasion.
MORE RANGERS STORIES
Hamburg now have to overcome Stuttgart in a playoff if they are to finally secure promotion back to the Bundesliga.
A fixture that at full-time seemed impossible as fans ran onto the Volksparkstadion pitch to celebrate.
Heart-break for Rangers partners Hamburg
Hamburg had done their part earning a 1-0 win which then meant that attention was then turned to Heidenheim, who were 2-1 down going into the 93rd minute.
An extended period of injury time gave them the chance to level the scores at 2-2 before Hamburg’s dreams were shattered with a 99th minute winner.
Rangers official Twitter page had wished Hamburg well ahead of the crucial tie but they will now need to pick themselves up to go again.
Hopefully, Hamburg will come to Ibrox in July as a promoted Bundesliga side and with them bringing a stiff pre-season test.
The partnership between the two sides appears to be more emotional and commercial rather than any player or recruitment link as we have seen in the past with the likes of Orange County SC.
Rangers season has been disappointing enough on its own, however, for fans of both clubs, seeing Hamburg get so close is truly heartbreaking.
Getting the job done against Stuttgart though will more than make up for the dampened celebrations that had to be so cruelly curtailed.