Rangers fans have that familiar feeling of licking their wounds in the aftermath of Champions League defeat, but a string of serious injuries haven’t helped the club’s case at Europe’s top table.
Following the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool, the Gers have now lost their first three Champions League group games without registering a goal never mind a point, the club experiencing a difficult first foray into Europe’s top competition for 12 years.
A challenging Group A of Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax hasn’t helped matters at all and Rangers have been unable to lay a glove on any of the competition in this season’s Champions League.
But if the Rangers squad wasn’t being currently held together with a mixture of masking tape and hope then would things have been different in the competition?
Have Rangers injuries impacted Champions League campaign?
Rangers went into the game against Liverpool without new summer signings John Souttar and Tom Lawrence, with both now side-lined until after the World Cup.
Filip Helander, Ianis Hagi and Kemar Roofe – three influential players who have routinely always played when available – are also yet to kick a ball this season.
These are five influential players who have the power to directly impact the starting XI and whilst plenty – Jurgen Klopp included – talk about the experience gained by Rangers at this level, having these players missing suggests we have been unable to give a proper account of ourselves.
Leon King – the 18-year-old defender – might’ve performed valiantly on the night at Anfield but had Rangers had the experience of Filip Helander or even John Souttar perhaps the club could’ve been more assured.
Creatively there is a piece missing and being without that bridging gap of Tom Lawrence or Ianis Hagi Rangers look stagnant in midfield and are struggling for that spark.
Malik Tillman – the man we expected to provide it – didn’t exactly cover himself in glory on Merseyside as fans slammed the Bayern loanee’s lack of application.
Kemar Roofe, now finally back in Ibrox training, is another experienced player who can deliver at the top end of the pitch and whilst the debate was raging around Morelos or Colak heading into the game, having Roofe as an option surely bolsters the squad.
These are big players and high-earners who – proportionally – any team would miss if their equivalents were missing for the first half of the campaign.
Yes, Rangers have come up short so far in the Champions League and toiled to make an impact, but if the Ibrox side had some of their strongest players available perhaps things might’ve been different.
At the very least, perhaps the club could’ve gave the best account of itself possible on what’s proving a difficult stage.
Meanwhile, Rangers murmurs around a Premier League rival are surely a wind-up given the bad blood between all parties involved.
