Michael Beale has vowed his new look Rangers side will go out all guns blazing to get to the Champions League – to bury last season’s Euro blues.
The Ibrox boss landed the job after Gio van Bronckhorst suffered a wretched run on the continent where his Gers became the worse side in group stage history on the back of painful drubbings by Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax. Embarrassments on the big stage eventually piled more pressure on the Dutchman and he was eventually bulleted in October.
Beale came in and he believes the major feat of knocking out PSV Eindhoven the in the play-offs to get to the groups was lost in the wash. And he admitted getting back to the big time has been the huge motivation for his early summer recruitment drive that’s seen six new stars pitch up at Ibrox – with another one on the way. Jose Cifuentes is expected to complete his move to Glasgow in the next week after thrashing out a fee with MLS side Los Angeles FC of around £1.2m.
The midfielder will hook up with recent arrivals Cyriel Dessers, Sam Lammers, Jack Butland, Abdallah Sima, Kieran Dowell and Dujon Sterling. Glen Kamara could be heading in the other direction with Turkish heavy hitters Besiktas preparing a £2.5m swoop.
But Beale’s sights are set on coming through two qualifiers and blasting his way to the £35m promised land of the Champions League. The Rangers boss roared: “We’re going hell for leather to get in the Champions League. If we get in and we do well, hopefully getting into Pot 3, that gives you a different thing altogether.
“If we don’t, then we go into a competition that we love, the Europa League. But we want it to be Champions League and to be in Europe after Christmas.
“That is the aim, I think, for every team in Europe but certainly for a Scottish team. Europe is a big part of this club. And there’s a disappointment from last year.
“PSV was a difficult tie, so it was a hugely impressive victory over two legs to get into the Champions League. And that’s been lost. So we need to make up for that, for sure. Our record in Europe in the last five years has, in general, been excellent.
“We’ve beaten some big, big teams at Ibrox and away. Dortmund, Leipzig, Porto, Benfica, Feyenoord, we’ve played against some really top teams. And really grown, when you think of the journey from 2018. So this is exciting for the players coming in, for me and the staff.”
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