Preview: Club Brugge vs Rangers - prediction, team news, lineups

Club Brugge have a two-goal lead to protect when they welcome Rangers to the Jan Breydel Stadion in the second leg of their Champions League Playoff on Wednesday night.

Nicky Hayen’s men blew the Scottish giants away in the opening 20 minutes at Ibrox last week, but a late consolation means the tie is not done and dusted just yet.

Match preview

A crazy beginning in last week’s first leg all but ended Rangers’ Champions League hopes before they had even begun, as they went 3-0 down inside the opening quarter, with Romeo Vermant’s shambolic opener setting the scene for what was to come.

Jorne Spileers added another inside seven minutes, before Brandon Mechele’s superb strike led to an exodus from Ibrox with 160 minutes still left in the tie.

Danilo did pull a goal back in the second half for Rangers, but Brugge are in complete control, and look set to reach the Champions League for the eighth time in 10 seasons.

This is the 33rd straight year Brugge have played European football of some kind, and last season saw them get all the way to the last 16 of the Champions League, before losing to Aston Villa.

A 6-1 defeat on aggregate was the last time Brugge lost a match in any competition by two or more goals, back in March, and Rangers are several levels below Villa’s level, so the home crowd will be confident of seeing the job through.

Since a shock defeat to Mechelen, Brugge have won five in a row in all competitions, beating rivals Cercle, before going to Zulte and claiming a 1-0 victory, ahead of last week’s big win on the road.

That run also encompasses their two legs in the previous round against Salzburg, where they also took an away lead into a second-leg home clash, but needed two late goals to turn the tide and take their place in the playoffs.

Brugge were allowed to postpone their league match with Westerlo at the weekend to offer them more time to prepare for the second leg; something Rangers opted against, but they were unable to play themselves into form, drawing 1-1 with St Mirren.

Pressure is mounting on new manager Russell Martin already, who has won just three of his first nine games in charge, none of which have come in the Premiership.

The draw with St Mirren follows other stalemates with Motherwell and Dundee, leaving them six points off Celtic already, heading into next week’s Old Firm derby.

Martin’s men even made hard work of League One Alloa Athletic in the Scottish League Cup earlier this month, in what remains their only domestic win of the season so far.

Rangers also failed to win either of their previous away legs in the Champions League, as they made particular hard work of holding onto a 3-0 lead away to Viktoria Plzen in the previous round.

A third straight year of Europa League football looks on the cards for Rangers, given that it is 18 years since they won a Champions League match of any kind by two or more goals away from home.

Club Brugge Champions League form:

W W W

Club Brugge form (all competitions)

L W W W W W

Rangers Champions League form

W D W L L

Rangers form (all competitions)

W D L W L D

Team News

First-leg goalscorer Vermant and Raphael Onyedika are both doubts for Brugge ahead of the second leg, but having the weekend off could aid their recoveries.

After making upwards of £75m in sales over the summer, Brugge look just as strong, and they bolstered the ranks further last week by adding Mamadou Diakhon, and he made his debut as a late sub at Ibrox.

Brugge’s success this season will likely come down to whether they are able to keep last season’s top scorer Christos Tzolis before the deadline, as he got two assists in the first leg, after a goal and an assist in the Super Cup win over Union SG.

Rangers are set to be without Cyriel Dessers again due to a knee issue, while full-back Dujon Sterling is missing with an Achilles injury.

Sterling’s absence and Ridvan Yilmaz’s sale to Besiktas has paved the way for Jayden Meghoma to come in on loan from Brentford, and he got the assist for Danilo’s goal last week, but he was replaced at half time against St Mirren on Sunday.

Nicolas Raskin has plenty of prior experience playing against Brugge from his time at Standard Liege, and while his record is not ideal, winning just two of his eight career meetings, he will be important if the visitors are to spark an unlikely comeback.

Club Brugge possible starting lineup:

Mignolet; Sabbe, Spileers, Mechele, Seys; Onyedika, Vanaken, Stankovic; Forbs, Vermant, Tzolis

Rangers possible starting lineup:

Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Djiga, Meghoma; Diomande, Rothwell, Raskin; Antman, Danilo, Gassama

We say: Club Brugge 3-0 Rangers (6-1 on aggregate)

Rangers are in disarray following a dismal start to the season, and it is tough to see them threatening Brugge’s two-goal lead in any form in Belgium.

Brugge enter the second leg in great form, fresh from beating Salzburg home and away, as well as two straight league wins, prior to last week’s first-leg success, and they should have no problem in finishing the job.

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