GIOVANNI van Bronckhorst has urged Rangers to play without any fear in their Champions League game against Napoli in Italy tonight - and stressed that making a strong start will be crucial to their chances of success.
The Ibrox club have lost all four of their Group A matches to date and need to get a result against the section leaders away to boost their chances of finishing third and securing a place in the Europa League preliminary knockout round.
Van Bronckhorst has come under pressure from supporters of the Glasgow giants because of their poor performances in Europe’s premier club competition and indifferent domestic form in the 2022/23 campaign.
However, the Dutchman - who has Rabbi Matondo and Leon King, who went off in the 1-1 draw with Livingston in a cinch Premiership game Govan on Saturday due to injury and illness, available again – has told Rangers they must take a positive approach to the match.
“Character is very important tomorrow,” he said. “You always need that in games, especially when you come off a draw at the weekend, but also the last games in the Champions League.
“In parts of games we’ve played really well, but in the end all that matters is about the result. The character has to be there to get a result. If that’s there then we have a chance.
“We are taking into account the strong opposition we are playing, but we have to go on the pitch and not be fearful, play the way we can and reach the level we can reach. Then we’ll see whether we have a positive result or not.”
Van Bronckhorst added: “Pressure, especially if you don’t have results in the Champions League which is very hard because of the opposition, means you have to get a good result.
“That’s also what we want to achieve tomorrow in a difficult stadium against a really good team. But to get confidence you have to have a good performance and of course something positive out of the game.
“Of course we need to start strong. I think that is very important in every game. We saw at the weekend that if you don’t start strong you are already behind early. We definitely don’t want that tomorrow.
“A goal can always happen, but it’s about reacting to a goal against you. In many games we collapsed, especially the away game against Ajax and the home game against Liverpool.”
Napoli, who are on top of Serie A and have won all four of their Champions League group games, are bidding to win 12 consecutive fixtures for the first time in their history and boost their chances of topping their section and being seeded in the last 16 draw next month.
But Van Bronckhorst was impressed with how Rangers performed against Luciano Spalletti’s side at Ibrox last month – they competed well until centre half James Sands was ordered off in the second-half – and is optimistic they can pick up their first points.
“Of course, this is a team that who have won their last 11 games against really top opponents at Champions League level and in Serie A,” he said.
“But we know the opposition, we know their quality, and it’s also a chance for us to have a good performance against a really good team, like we did at home.”
