Steven Gerrard’s Rangers have an unbelievable opportunity tonight. The club kick-off away at Maribor in just an hour and 15 minutes and if they can overcome the Slovakian’s then they’ll find themselves just 180 more minutes of football away from a place in the Europa League group stages.
Huge match tonight for the team against very good opposition. Need to be on our game to make it through in what will be arguably be our toughest match so far
Good luck @RangersFC and safe journey to all the fans making the trip today
Bring it home lads pic.twitter.com/GLG75wacnv
— Four Lads Had a Dream (@4ladshadadream) 16 August 2018
The Bluenoses absolutely pumped Maribor 3-1 this time last week and now nearly all of the bookies are backing Stevie G’s boys to get past their Slovakian opposition and get to the final qualifying match before the Europa League group stages and if they can get that far then Gerrard will already be viewed as a success before he’s even made it halfway through his first season at Ibrox.
That won’t be on any of the players’ minds at the moment, though, as they’ll all be focused on playing Maribor off the park and keeping them at bay. If Gerrard’s side come out of the traps slowly and concede an early goal then they’ll be right under the cosh for the rest of the game. Due to the away goals rule, Maribor will progress if they win 2-0 and that is something that Gerrard and Rangers need to avoid at all costs.
You can read the Bluenoses’ verdict ahead of the game here:
https://twitter.com/BearUlster/status/1030031154647318528
Good luck @RangersFC, tough game but if we can get through it will be a huge boost for the season ahead
— Robert Shaw (@Shawggy82) 16 August 2018
https://twitter.com/gerz1873/status/1030012414446788608
https://twitter.com/majorl56/status/1029993173668560896
https://twitter.com/Broxiboy1/status/1029994947913678848
C'mon the Rangers we'll support you evermore
— Rangers Loyal #DefundtheBBC (@moregrass511) August 16, 2018
All the best for tonight from all those involved with Leeds United – No Surrender
— Paul Jackson (@pjacko2060) August 16, 2018
The supporters will be watching this one nervously and hoping they can hold out and get the result they need to advance to the final qualifying round.
