Servette 1-1 Rangers (agg 2-3): Beale's men book UCL play-off against PSV
Money talks in Geneva. A trip to this most expensive of European cities leaves most visitors feeling the pinch, but Rangers will happily depart with their bank balance boosted.
It wasn’t an entirely straightforward transaction. After sweating through a fraught first half on a stickily hot night in south-western Switzerland, Michael Beale’s side risked a costly failure in terms of both finance and prestige.
But they gathered themselves. They found a goal that mattered. And they stood firm to secure the necessary reward. In truth, the second period didn’t stir nearly as much anxiety.
A guaranteed £4.3 million in UEFA prize money is now theirs for reaching the Champions League play-offs, while hope persists of landing the £20 million-plus available from the group stage.
Achieving the latter will require Rangers to play much better when a free-scoring PSV Eindhoven visit Ibrox for next Tuesday’s play-off first leg - seeking revenge for defeat 12 months ago.
But at least they are there. With another week to work on turning Beale’s rebuild into something more consistently cohesive in terms of overall performance levels.
Positives existed here. Again, the buzzing energy of Todd Cantwell was prominent, ably backed up at times by the club’s most recent addition, Jose Cifuentes. In goal, Jack Butland produced two very significant saves.
The old guard were also at it. A classic Borna Barisic cross allowed opposite full-back James Tavernier to convert his latest continental goal, cancelling out Derek Kutesa’s opener.
The evening would have been much easier, however, had Danilo not contrived a remarkable miss during the opening period. When you recall Sam Lammers passing up a snip at Ibrox, Rangers made this challenge more testing than it
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