Spiky Giovanni van Bronckhorst reckons the difference between Rangers and Ajax was their opponents had "six days off" to prepare for the fixture.
The Dutch champions ran out 3-1 winners to confirm the Ibrox side's group stage record as the worst ever recorded at the end of a miserable campaign. Ajax had a free weekend in the Eredivisie and Van Bronckhorst reckons that was decisive on the pitch as goals from Steven Berghuis, Mohammed Kudus and Francesco Conceicao made six defeats from six for Rangers on their long-awaited return to the competition.
In what appeared to be a veiled dig at the SPFL, Van Bronckhorst claimed Dutch football bosses were "thinking about their players" as he reckons Ajax arrived in Glasgow much fresher than his own players, who beat Aberdeen 4-1 at the weekend. He told BT Sport: "Disappointing result, the last 5-10 minutes you think we might get a point if we put pressure on but (the third) was really quick. Overall, it was a difficult match for us. We tried to press them but you see the difference in energy levels, they had no game at the weekend and they were much fresher than we were.
"To compete against Ajax we needed to have the pressure moments but we weren't able to create those moments. We lacked a little bit of energy to keep pressing high.
"Well, they had six days off - their league is thinking about their players. They played their last game on Wednesday and they come here really fresh. We, of course, we played a game and have some injuries. We tried but these are teams that are competing for several years at this level. It's our first after 12 years.
Asked if he thinks the SPFL should be doing more for clubs in Europe, Van Bronckhorst elaborated: "Helping, that's from the league. You asked me what the difference was today - they haven't had a game at the weekend, that's the difference. I didn't say we need help. I just said they have a free weekend."
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