Rangers Crumble Early as Brugge Take Control at Ibrox
On a night when Rangers supporters had come to Ibrox hoping for a step closer to the Champions League group stages, what they witnessed instead was a collapse so brutal that many were leaving their seats before half-time. By the twentieth minute, the scoreboard read 3-0 to Club Brugge, and the atmosphere inside the stadium had already turned poisonous.
The match had barely begun when disaster struck. Rangers pressed forward in hope, but within moments a careless lapse at the back allowed Brugge’s Romeo Vermant the space to lob Jack Butland with a finish of real quality. It was a moment that silenced the optimism in the stands and set the tone for what followed. Only a few minutes later, Jorne Spileers found himself completely unmarked from a corner and calmly stroked home. The defensive organisation was absent, the marking non-existent, and Ibrox began to boil over.
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By the twentieth minute, it went from bad to worse. Rangers twice failed to clear their lines and Brugge veteran Brandon Mechele, making his 500th appearance, punished them with a powerful strike. At 3-0 down, the game was already drifting beyond Rangers’ reach, and the home crowd responded with boos, frustration, and in many cases, an early exit. It was the kind of angry, visceral reaction that Glasgow football is known for – loud, raw, and cutting.
Russell Martin, still in the infancy of his tenure as Rangers manager, cut a lonely figure on the touchline. His style of play, adventurous and attack-minded, has impressed in flashes, but at this level the defensive weaknesses were cruelly exposed. Too much space was conceded, runners were not tracked, and there was little sense of authority in the back line. It wasn’t that Brugge were overwhelming; rather, they were clinical enough to exploit every error.
To Rangers’ credit, the second half showed more fight. Substitute Jayden Meghoma, on loan from Brentford, provided a spark down the flank, and Danilo managed to pull a goal back with a close-range finish. Djeidi Gassama even thought he had scored another, only for VAR to rule it out after he was judged to have fouled Simon Mignolet. The performance after the break did not erase the horror of the opening spell, but it at least added some respectability to the scoreline.
Martin afterwards insisted that pain was always going to be part of the process, that setbacks would be necessary to grow. But even he must know that patience is in short supply at Ibrox. Rangers fans have seen their team humbled in Europe before, and rarely forgive managers who repeat the cycle. With crucial fixtures ahead – a tricky trip to St Mirren, a return leg in Belgium, and then the small matter of Celtic – the pressure will only intensify.
Brugge left Glasgow with a commanding lead and every reason to believe the job is already done. For Rangers, the tie is still alive in theory, but the damage feels close to fatal. Life comes quickly in Glasgow football, and for Russell Martin, it may already be coming too fast.
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