Giovanni van Bronckhorst says Rangers are returning to the Champions League to compete with the big guns as he joked: "We are going to try and win it now."
The Light Blues returned to Europe's top table after negotiating two rounds of qualifying against Union Saint Gilloise and Dutch giants PSV. The play-off win - courtesy of Antonio Colak's goal at the Philips Stadion - sparked jubilant scenes between players, management and fans as a place in the premier competition was secured.
The Dutchman and his troops learned their group stage fate yesterday with the reward for reaching this stage, and the riches that come along with it, a Battle of Britain clash with Liverpool alongside a reunion with Calvin Bassey and Ajax plus Serie A outfit Napoli. Van Bronckhorst knows Rangers face a difficult challenge in their section as they look to draw on last season's Europa League run as inspiration to pull off some big scalps on the way.
The Ibrox gaffer believes it is a 'very privileged' position for the players to be in as so many don't get to chance to test themselves out at the very top and says it is an experience that he 'will love'.
The Dutchman joked: “Yeah, we are going to try and win it now. Of course you want to be competitive. We are here to compete, we want to compete with the best teams in Europe.
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"It is going to be a difficult challenge because we are going to face some big teams in Europe, like we did last year, but it is an experience that I will love. I love that my players will have the opportunity to compete.
“I always remember my first game in the Champions League with Feyenoord against Juventus away and the first 20, 25 minutes I was blown away by the level and the way Juventus played in that time. To experience that as a player, you have to be very privileged because not many players get the chance to compete on this level.”
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