Rangers overturned a two-goal deficit against Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise at Ibrox last night to qualify for the play-off round in this season's UEFA Champions League. Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side won 3-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate as they took another step towards reaching the UEFA Champions League's group stage.

The Gers were far from clinical with their finishing in the first half but they were handed a lifeline on the stroke of half-time when Union Saint-Gilloise defender Siebe van der Heyden handled the ball in the box. James Tavernier proved that he was the coolest man in Ibrox as he stuck away the resulting penalty kick.

Rangers levelled the tie early in the second half through Antonio Colak's close range effort before Malik Tillman beat Union Saint-Gilloise keeper Anthony Moris to a cross, heading in the all-important third goal.

Union Saint-Gilloise ended the tie with 10 men with Lazare Amani picking up a second yellow card in second half injury time.

Last night's victory for Rangers now means that they will take on Dutch club PSV Eindhoven over two legs in the play-off round.

  • Passion, fire and desire thrills Van Bronckhorst

When speaking in the post-match press conference, Van Bronckhorst expressed his delight at his side's desire and determination to take another step towards qualifying for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.

"We needed a big performance, the pressure was on us after the defeat last week," Van Bronckhorst said. "We know that we are capable of delivering big nights for the club but still, you have to do it over and over again. That’s why I am so proud of my players - they played with passion, fire and with the desire to go to the next round and that’s the only way.

"You have to perform on the pitch to create the atmosphere that we did from the fans. It was an amazing night for us."

  • Winning midfield battle key to turning the tie around

On the back of Rangers' 2-0 defeat in the first leg, Van Bronckhorst knew about Union Saint-Gilloise's strengths only too well. He admitted that the midfield battle was where the tie was always going to be won and lost.

"We knew that the midfield would be an important part of the game today with the captain that they have," he said. "The play always started with him so we wanted to dominate the midfield. That’s why we played Tom (Lawrence) and Malik (Tillman) together with Scott Arfield to create the numbers there and to make them run. We wanted to create more chances than we did last week and you know with Malik and Tom that you can do that.

"John (Lundstram) was really important too to keep the pressure on them and to make sure of the balance in the team. We know the quality that he has and that’s what he gave to the team." 

  • Van Bronckhorst on play-off round tie against PSV 

After enjoying plenty of gruelling battles with PSV Eindhoven both as a player and as a coach, Van Bronckhorst will come up against the Dutch side once again with current club Rangers in the UEFA Champions League's play-off round. The Dutchman said that it will be a great occasion for him on a personal level.

"It’s familiar, it’s a familiar team for me and it’ll be great to see Ruud van Nistelrooy," The Gers boss said. "It’ll be nice to be back in Holland for a few days after spending many months in Glasgow but we know that we will have to play very well. It is a big chance for us to get through and become a team that will play Champions League football this season."