Rangers were defeated 3-1 at Ibrox on Tuesday evening by Club Brugge in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League playoff round tie.
The Gers found themselves 3-0 down inside 20 minutes with the Belgians running riot in front of an irate Ibrox crowd.
With doubts already creeping in over new head coach Russell Martin and his style of play after an abject start to the season that included 1-1 draws with both Motherwell and Dundee in the league, a huge turnaround is required to win back the support.
Rangers do not have much of a history when it comes to turning around first leg deficits, but it has been done before.
Let’s look at some of Rangers’ greatest second-leg European comebacks:
Juventus – 1978/79 Cup Winners’ Cup
Rangers had been soundly beaten 1-0 in Turin in the first leg of their first round tie, and few gave them much chance of turning the tide against a Juventus side boasting the likes of Roberto Bettega and Franco Causio.
But under the lights at Ibrox, the Gers produced a performance for the ages.
Goals from Alex MacDonald and Gordon Smith stunned the Italians, to complete a 2-0 win on the night and a 2-1 aggregate triumph.
It remains one of Ibrox’s most storied European evenings, the atmosphere lifting Rangers to topple one of the continent’s giants.
Dynamo Kyiv – 1987/88 European Cup
Against a technically gifted Dynamo Kyiv side that had edged a 1-0 win in the then Soviet Union, Rangers again looked to be up against it.
The Ukrainians were widely regarded as one of Europe’s best sides at the time, drilled by the legendary Valeriy Lobanovskyi.
But at Ibrox, Graeme Souness’ side summoned a display full of energy and determination. Marc Falco struck early, and a further goal from the legendary Ally McCoist saw Rangers roar to a 2-0 victory on the night, advancing 2-1 on aggregate.
It was a tie that underlined Rangers’ ability to draw on the Ibrox crowd as a decisive weapon in Europe, something they won’t be able to rely on next week.
Toxicity levels - Is Ibrox toxic?
Russell Martin: Rangers must be judged in May, not on Brugge horror show
Rangers gift Brugge a huge head start
RB Leipzig – 2021/22 Europa League
Few comebacks in Rangers’ history can match the drama of this night. Having lost 1-0 in Leipzig in the semi-final first leg, Rangers needed to summon something remarkable to keep their dream of a first European final in 14 years alive.
With Ibrox at fever pitch, James Tavernier and Glen Kamara put Rangers ahead inside 25 minutes, overturning the deficit.
Though Christopher Nkunku scored on the night to level the match across the two legs, John Lundstram’s 81st-minute strike sent the stadium into delirium and Rangers through 3-2 on aggregate.
The result booked a place in the Europa League final in Seville and instantly became part of Rangers history.
OH BABY DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT’S WORTH…
Union Saint-Gilloise – 2022/23 Champions League
This was the modern benchmark for a two-leg revival. Rangers looked dead and buried after a miserable 2-0 defeat in Belgium in the third qualifying round.
The tie seemed beyond them, but at Ibrox the response was emphatic. James Tavernier’s penalty just before half-time gave the home side belief, Antonio Čolak doubled the lead with a poacher’s finish, and Malik Tillman sealed a famous 3-0 win with a towering header.
The comeback restored pride after early-season doubts and was a pivotal step on the club’s journey back to the UEFA Champions League’s group stages, our last appearance in the competition proper to date.
Famous nights every single one, however, all these famous fightbacks were forged under the Ibrox lights, with the roar of a partisan crowd driving Rangers on to glory.
The common thread is clear, the comfort of home, the emotion of the stands, and the weight of history helping to tilt the balance.
This time, however, there will be no such luxury. Martin’s men must travel to Belgium and attempt to overturn a deficit on foreign soil.
For a club steeped in European tradition, an away turnaround of this magnitude would not just silence the doubters looking inwards, and within the support, it would carve out a brand new chapter of history.