WITH the mercury set to rise above 40 here in Seville in the coming days, it made sense to ask Giovanni van Bronckhorst about Rangers’ ability to cope with the conditions the Europa League final will be played in last night.
The Ibrox club have been outstanding during their remarkable and unexpected run to the match in the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium this season. But at no stage in the past 10 months have they had to take to the field in such stifling temperatures. Will they wilt in the Spanish sun after kick-off this evening?
Van Bronckhorst is certain that James Tavernier and his team mates can handle the heat - not just literally, but metaphorically as well - and give the tens of thousands of fans who have travelled to Andalusia to cheer them on the result they long for.
There has not been as much hysteria about a game involving the Glasgow giants since they made it through to the UEFA Cup final in Manchester back in 2008. The players have enjoyed witnessing the excitement and receiving so many goodwill messages. But the level of interest and expectation brings its own pressures.
Their Dutch coach, a former Champions League winner and World Cup finalist, took part in huge games on numerous occasions in his own playing career and understands only too well the range of emotions his charges will be experiencing ahead of the meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt.
However, he has seen how his men performed against Borussia Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade, Braga and RB Leipzig in the earlier rounds of the competition and has no concerns about them failing to deliver when it matters most and disappointing their legions of followers. If anything, he expects it to bring out the best in them.
“Of course it’s different,” he said at his pre-match press conference before a final training session at the venue last night. “We’re here now, we see the difference in the attention we have from the media, we look at the stadium. It’s because we reached the final.
“But if you play in big games and finals you get so much attention. We have to make sure we are concentrating on our game tomorrow. We have done it so many times before this game and tomorrow will be the same.
“Of course, it’s a big game and it comes with pressure because you have the ability, the chance to win a major prize. But in any top sport you have to have a little bit of pressure to perform well. That’s what we have to do tomorrow.
“I always have some final words. It’s always good to prepare them for anything that comes and give them an extra per cent of motivation. But I’m a coach who always trusts his feeling and his gut. I think the players will know how important this game is. I don’t think this team needs any more motivation than we are feeling now.”
Van Bronckhorst added: “The weather it’s different from Glasgow, that’s for sure. That’s why we came out one day early. We went a walk at the time of the kick-off last night and we’ll prepare today with a light session to get used to the heat.
“At nine o clock (the time the game will kick-off in Spain) I think it will be a lot less. I played many years here (with Barcelona) in Sevilla and normally we kicked-off at 10 o’clock. Now it’s one hour earlier. But we’ll be ready. We have the protocol for playing in warm conditions with the drinking. We’ll be fine.”
The ex-Feyenoord, Rangers, Arsenal and Barcelona defender cum midfielder is certain their huge support will, even though Eintracht will have the same number of fans inside the stadium, give them an edge over their German opponents.
“It will be a factor because our fans are supporting us really well,” he said. “In the ties we played this season in Europe, we knew to get a good result away from home and take it back to Ibrox where we are capable of winning against any team.
“Of course the final is different. It’s only one game, not at Ibrox but in Seville. We will both feel that. It’s different but, still, you will hear our fans a lot. Our performances can be good as well. So I think we will be ready, play the way we always do and make sure we give everything we have to make sure we win.”
Van Bronckhorst and his backroom staff have spent recent days studying Eintracht and he admitted that he has identified similarities between them and the Dormund and Leipzig sides who Rangers beat earlier in their campaign.
“It is a very well-organised team,” he said. “They play the same system as Leipzig, but, of course they have different players in different positions so their qualities are different.
“But they are still very organised, have very fast players, in transitional moments they can be quite dangerous. They deserve to be in the final. They had great ties against Barcelona and West Ham. They are here because they deserve it. I am really excited to play against them. They are two clubs with a lot of history and a very dominant and loyal fan base. It’s going to be a really exciting final.”
The huge numbers of Eintracht and Rangers fans who have flown to Spain to support their teams whether they have a ticket or not has led to fears that trouble may break out in the bars and public spaces in the city.
Van Bronckhorst hopes the Ibrox club can lift just the second European trophy in their history – but he is also keen for the match to pass off without incident as well and added his voice to the appeals for spectators to behave.
“You can bring 50 people and they can bring chaos,” he said. “We have to enjoy this occasion. We as managers, players, staff and the fans inside and outside the stadium. It’s not often you get to reach a European final.
“We have to enjoy it and make sure we are not causing any problems. Let the game decide who wins. One half of the people will go home really happy and the other half will go home angry. But we should respect the whole city and all the people who have worked so hard to accommodate us. Enjoy it and don’t leave anything negative behind.”
