After a long, grinding, and rewarding European campaign, Rangers are done in the Europa League.
Rangers went on the road to Vienna to face off against SK Rapid Wien, a victory would’ve put them through to the knockout stages of the Europa League. They failed to achieve victory however, falling 1-0.
Dejan Ljubicic was the goal-scorer for Rapid Wien, wrong-footing Allan McGregor.
Rangers made a tough fight, with goal-scoring opportunities coming from multiple players. James Tavernier, Glenn Middleton, Connor Goldson, and Alfredo Morelos all had excellent chances but could simply not break through.
Coming off of two disappointing outings in the Scottish Premiership, a 0-1 loss against Aberdeen and a 1-1 tie away against Dundee, this loss is another knock for the club. While the European campaign remains an unquestionable success, this final failure coming in a poor stretch of form in Scotland does give concern and worry about the season starting to come apart.
Perhaps this will end up being just what the club needs. They have been stretched thin the entire season, playing tons of games and having to dig deep into the roster as the injuries mount. With the end of the European campaign will mean that Rangers can just focus on the Scottish Premiership.
With the Winter transfer window coming up, a bolster of the roster can help Rangers stay happy and healthy down the stretch while not having to play so many matches.
In the end, the European campaign cannot be marked as anything other than a roaring success. They were never supposed to get this far, and while it is certainly disappointing to fall just short of the knockout stages, Rangers did exceptionally well to reach teh group stage and even compete there in a tough group.