‘We have to change our mentality’ - Giovanni van Bronckhorst unable to explain Liverpool annihilation as Rangers boss gives injury update

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst admitted he had no explanation for their 7-1 Champions League mauling at home to Liverpool but confessed his players’ mentality has to change.

The Ibrox club fell to the joint-biggest defeat in their history after a second half collapse against their Premier League opponents as they limped out of the competiton with two group stage matches remaining.

Van Bronckhorst has already been on the receiving end of two 4-0 hammerings (vs Celtic and Ajax) and a 3-0 thrashing (against Napoli) so far this season but this latest morale-crushing blow could prove really difficult for the Dutchman to recover from.

Fans will rightly be demanding answers from the manager after his side appeared to down tools following a six-goal blitz, which included a sublime six-minute hat-trick for Reds substitute Mohamed Salah.

An emotional Van Bronckhorst declared afterwards: “I have to process this, I cannot explain at the moment. We have to change our mentality, that’s for sure.

“We can be very strong, as we showed in the first half, but when we are not there mentally then our levels drop really quick. We performance way less than we should do.

“That’s something we need to avoid for the future in this competition and also in the league. It’s a thing we have to improve if we are to be successful this year.

“We had four transition moments when we lost the ball and they punished us really quickly with the attack they have. In the last 25 minutes we were not in the game, not with our heads and the decisions we made against a team like Liverpool, with Thiago, Salah and Jota and you are not in the game you get punished.”

Another major cause for concern were the injuries sustained either side of the interval by Connor Goldson and Ryan Jack, with both players now likely to sit out of Sunday’s Premiership match against Motherwell.

Centre-back Goldson has been an ever-present in the Gers line-up but initial reports suggest he could now be facing several MONTHS on the sidelines with a suspected thigh muscle tear after leaving the ground on crutches last night.

The Englishman collided with Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez and quickly dropped to the turf in severe pain as he received a lengthy period of treatment from the club’s medical staff.

Issuing an update on the condition of both players, Van Bronckhorst said: “Both aren’t good - they couldn’t continue.

For Connor, he tore something in his muscle. We have to wait and see what exactly the injury is, but he will be out. The same goes for Ryan. We need to assess their injuries and how long it’s going to be.”