Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst has found himself on the end of some hefty criticism for his comments after Tuesday's defeat against Ajax in the Champions League. 

The Lowdown: More European misery for Rangers

Last night's 3-1 defeat against the Dutch club brought an end to Rangers' dismal Champions League group stage, leaving the Ibrox side with no points gained from their six European outings.

Speaking after the match, which left the Gers with the worst goal difference ever recorded in a UCL group, Van Bronckhorst had this to say on the game:

"We tried to press but you seen the difference in energy levels. They had 6 days off. Their league is thinking about the players. We played a game at the weekend."

These comments have not gone down well on social media, with numerous media outlets and journalists sharing their thoughts on what the Gers boss had to say.

The Latest: Criticism for Van Bronckhorst

"This desperately stupid stuff. When does GVB suggest they play these games if they postponed every Saturday game on the week of a CL game. Maybe he should use that massive financial advantage against 10/11 Premiership clubs to rotate the squad." - SPFL Media Watch, via Twitter.

"If teams were given more days off to prepare for big games and wanted to be successful in the process they’d never get a season finished. RFC played extra-time in back to back matches twice in less than six weeks in April/May, winning three and only losing the other on penalties." - Andrew Dickson, Sky Sports, via Twitter.

"What happened the five games before tonight, Napoli , Liverpool and Ajax are better sides but the manner of the performances and tactically the whole campaign was a complete disaster for Rangers. He hasn’t a leg to stand on coming out with this sort of garbage." - Josh Bunting, Islington Gazette, via Twitter.

The Verdict: Disappointment for Rangers

To highlight how disappointing Rangers were in the Champions League, they have the fourth-lowest average of possession (38.1%) out of every club to play in the tournament ahead of Wednesday's fixtures, as well as the third-lowest average of successful passes (76.9%).

They have also racked up the lowest team rating in the competition, with WhoScored giving them a rather underwhelming rating of 6.07/10.

Taking all of this into account, it's easy to see why the media have taken aim at Van Bronckhorst when he's trying to blame the fixture schedule for his side's poor performances in the Champions League.

Moving forward, the best thing Rangers can do now is to focus on winning as many domestic games as possible and hope that they can end the season with some silverware.