Rangers' UEFA Champions League qualification hopes are hanging by a thread ahead of their Third Qualifying Round, second leg tie against Union Saint-Gilloise at Ibrox tomorrow night.
The Glasgow giants are challenged with overturning a 2-0 deficit following a woeful performance in the first leg at the King Power at Den Dreef Stadion in Heverlee a week ago.
Union Saint-Gilloise have embarked on their first European adventure in 58 years but there was no lack of UEFA Champions League experience on show in the first leg in Belgium. Teddy Teuma's 27th-minute goal handed the home side a first half lead before they doubled their advantage in the second period from the penalty spot through Dante Vanzeir.
Rangers now face an uphill task in the return leg as they look to rescue their chances of qualifying for next stage and keeping those dreams alive of featuring alongside the game's giants in the group stage. It simply has to be one of those special European nights under the floodlights at Ibrox if The Gers are to avoid exiting this season's UEFA Champions League with a whimper.
Fans can drive Gers on but performance must be better
When speaking to the media in the pre-match press conference ahead of the second leg, Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst said that the club's fans can help roar his side on to victory, however, the team must put on a display to be proud of and erase memories of what happened in the first leg.
"The fans always have a big role to play," he said. "When we play at home, the support is always fantastic, the fans are amazing and I am sure that it will be the same tomorrow.
"We have to make sure that our performance is better than last week because then we can create an atmosphere which will make it very difficult for our opponents.
"We can turn it around with the support of our fans but as I said before, the performance has to be better than the away game."
The Champions League is no place for underachievers
With the UEFA Champions League being the premier club competition in European football, Van Bronckhorst issued a reminder that there is no scope for Rangers to have another 'off-night' following that disastrous first leg defeat in Belgium a week ago. The only option is for The Light Blues to turn up and perform well on the night.
"I have said it many times before - if you are playing in Europe, you cannot have an off-night," Van Bronckhorst said. "That will make it difficult for you in the whole tie.
"The level that we reached last week was not the level that we usually reach or have to reach to be competitive in the Champions League. Our performance and standards need to be on a higher level tomorrow otherwise, we won't have any chance of reaching the next stage."
Rangers squad continues to gel
Van Bronckhorst went on to explain that the squad are still gelling off the back of a summer of transfer activity at Ibrox, although early-season league results have been very promising with back-to-back wins.
He added "The positive thing is that we have started with two wins in the league, it is always important to get off to a winning start.
"We have quite a big squad with some new additions so it takes time to get used to each other and to know each other's strengths. I can see the development in my players, especially the new ones coming in, adapting to the playing style and to their new teammates.
"That is a process that you will always have at the beginning of a season and we are just making sure that our development and our process aligns with winning games."