Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst prepared for ‘very hostile’ atmosphere at Red Star Belgrade

The Ibrox side secured a 3-0 win against the Serbian club last week, with goals from James Tavernier, Alfredo Morelos and Leon Balugon giving Rangers a comfortable lead heading into the second leg.

Red Star Belgrade will host Rangers on Thursday, with the latter hoping to secure their place in the Europa League quarter finals, which would be their best European performance since 2008.

‘Hostile atmosphere’

van Bronckhorst was speaking to the media ahead of Thursday’s game, and he was asked about how Rangers would handle the atmosphere in Serbia.

“The atmosphere can be very hostile,” he said. “That’s a thing we have to cope with. We have been in places before where it is very hostile. You have to deal with it. You have to be mentally prepared. It will be a nice atmosphere to play in.

“It’s a challenge for us. To go out to a strong opponent in the atmosphere we’re going to face tomorrow, and to get a good result, that’s a really big challenge for us.”

Yellow card warning

The Rangers boss described the scoreline last week as a “good result”, although he did note it was “quite an even game”.

However, four players will have to be on their best behaviour in Serbia.

Joe Aribo, Alfredo Morelos, John Lundstram and Fashion Sakala are on the UEFA suspension threshold. A booking for any of those players in the second leg against Red Star in Serbia on Thursday evening would see them automatically banned from the first leg of the quarter-final if Rangers get there.

Despite this, van Bronckhorst said this would not affect his team selection.

“When you are playing so many games in Europe like we did you will always have players one yellow card away from a suspension,” he said.

“We will see after the game who we have available for the next game.”

Fixture build up

The Dutchman was also asked about whether he had concerns about a possible fixture pile up in April.

If Rangers were to secure a place in the next round of the Europa League they would face another two-legged tie, while also battling Celtic for the league title and going against their Old Firm rivals for a spot in the Scottish Cup final.

However, van Bronckhorst replied: “You want to be involved in all competitions at the end of the season. We have to go out tomorrow and make sure we get to the next round.”