CNN
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The excellent news for Glasgow Rangers is the Scottish membership has pocketed over $15 million for competing within the Champions League. The unhealthy information is, after ready 12 years to get again into the competitors’s group phases, the membership’s return has been nothing wanting a nightmare.
After a 3-1 defeat by Ajax on Tuesday, Rangers completed the group stage with six defeats out of six and with a purpose distinction of minus 20 – it scored scored solely twice and conceded 22 occasions.
Crotian membership Dinamo Zagreb had beforehand held the worst file with zero factors and a minus 19 purpose distinction, set in 2011.
“It’s a studying curve that we’ll have to absorb our stride. Going ahead, we’ll study from this and we’ll solely come again stronger,” Rangers captain James Tavernier advised BT Sport after Tuesday’s defeat.
“It’s the finer particulars in these video games whenever you’re enjoying in opposition to this high quality of opposition.
“It was a proud second for all of us to come back into this competitors however we’ve not carried out ourselves justice.
“We didn’t give the followers the minimal they wished, we’ll come clean with that and might solely apologize.”
After its lengthy awaited return to the group phases, Rangers was instantly up in opposition to it after being handed a really troublesome draw.
It confronted final 12 months’s finalist Liverpool, 2019 semifinalist Ajax and a resurgent Napoli which would be the most inform crew in Europe.
In fact, the gulf in school was evident in nearly each match it performed on this season’s competitors however no extra so than in its 7-1 dwelling defeat by Liverpool in October – and that was after taking the lead.
Rangers supervisor Giovanni van Bronckhorst says his crew had been merely not on the identical stage as its opponents, each financially and by way of high quality.
“It’s very disappointing. We had been all pleased we got here into the Champions League as a result of we weren’t competing at this stage in 12 years in order that’s very optimistic,” he advised reporters on Tuesday.
“However on the opposite aspect, we had been dealing with so many good groups. That’s a studying level.
“In fact we wish to be concerned once more subsequent 12 months however now we have to do higher than we did this season. It’s been laborious. These are details.”
Rangers is at present second within the Scottish Premiership, 4 factors behind rivals Celtic.
Regardless of its disappointment on the pitch in Europe, Rangers will profit financially from its Champions League marketing campaign.
All golf equipment to qualify for the group phases will earn $15.5 million from organizer UEFA this season, serving to groups like Rangers to develop and turn into extra aggressive if it qualifies once more subsequent 12 months.
