‘The players gave everything’ - Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst highlights positives from 3-0 defeat to Napoli

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has urged Rangers to end their dreadful Champions League campaign on a high following a 3-0 defeat to classy Serie A leaders Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

The unbeaten Italian outfit condemned the Light Blues to a fifth straight group stage loss, with the Ibrox side now needing to beat third-placed Ajax by five goals at Ibrox next week to clinch Europa League football after Christmas.

While that remains an unlikely scenario, the upbeat Gers boss admits he will settle for one final push and a positive result in their pursuit to put points on the board in Group A.

The Dutchman said: “It is a chance to get the first points. We have to leave the tournament with our heads held up high and it is another chance for us to play at home and get three points. In every home game we have played so far we were right in the game.

“Twice we gave it away in the last 20 minutes with the red card (for James Sands) against Napoli and the three penalties. Against Liverpool they turned up the level a little bit with the substitutes they had, but we have to give everything to make sure we have a result that we can be proud of at home to Ajax. That is our main task - to get something out of the game.”

Giovanni Simeone’s early brace and Leo Ostigard’s header set a new club record of TWELVE straight wins in all competitions for the Campanian club as they became the first Italian side since Juventus 17 years ago to all five group stage matches.

Despite opting to rest key players, Luciano Spalletti’s men all but sealed top spot ahead of their final game against Liverpool at Anfield. His opposite number remains under serious pressure after their poor form continued.

However, Van Bronckhorst was delighted with the character his side displayed in the second half as his players summoned enough energy to stage a late rally.

He admitted: “For us to give those kinds of goals away in Champions League is too easy. I think the reaction we showed afterwards was very positve. It’s not easy to come here and concede two early goals and still have to play 75 minutes. But I think that was very positive, the character they showed to still be in the game.

“In this game we created the most chances in the Champions League this season, to score away from home in Naples. That is very positive, but the chances only count when you score them. They took their first two chances and we didn’t.

“That is very disappointing because I think the players gave everything. They showed character and were very brave on the ball. And at 2-0 they were pushing to get something out of the game but in the end we didn’t.

“You can’t imagine the opponents we were facing at this moment in this group. We think about our performances, of course. But we have to be realistic and see what kind of opponents we are playing against. That’s always the case when you are in Champions League and the level we are facing at the moment is immense.”

Rangers captain James Tavernier stressed there was positives to be taken from the game and is adamant his team mates will learn from the experience.

He told BT Sport: “We’re disappointed we lost. I thought we could take some positives compared to the other games in the group. We let two easy goals and we had two big chances we could have levelled the game. They took their chances and that’s the level you’re playing at.

“We have to learn from it. We’ve got to pick ourselves up, take some positives, the energy we put in an how we tried to play football. We’ve got to take that into Saturday (against Aberdeen) and try to get three points.”