DANE-GER-OUS – Rangers v Brondby IF 21/10/2021
By Alistair Aird
It’s Matchday 3 in Europa League Group A, and the two teams yet to register a win thus far face off at Ibrox. And it’s the proverbial six-pointer. If Steven Gerrard’s side have ambitions of making it through to the knockout stages, then this is a must-win. With two of the last three fixtures away from home, three points in this one is essential if Gerrard’s fine record in the Europa League is to continue.
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Rangers go into the match unbeaten against Danish opposition. Since European competition began, we have faced Lyngby BK, Herfølge BK, F.C. Copenhagen, and FC Midtjylland. The record stands at seven wins and a draw, with 19 goals scored and just five conceded. For their part, Brondby have faced Hibernian, Aberdeen and Dundee United on Scottish soil, winning at Pittodrie and Easter Road but losing 3-1 at Tannadice.
Although Rangers are yet to face Brondby in a competitive match, there was a notable encounter back in the 1995 when Walter Smith took his squad to Denmark for pre-season training. Rangers won 2-1, and a certain Paul John Gascoigne scored his first goal for the club a matter of weeks after he signed up for the push for eight-in-a-row. And that’s not the only link between the two clubs.
Rangers have signed a few Danish players over the years, with names like Carl Hansen, Erik Bo Andersen and Peter Lovenkrands springing to mind. But make mention of Denmark in the Rangers community, and the name at the forefront for everyone is Brian Laudrup. Arguably the finest foreign player ever to play for Rangers, Laudrup started his career with Brondby back in 1986. He made 52 appearances for the club, scored 13 goals and won two league titles before making his way to Glasgow via Bayer Uerdingen, Bayern Munich, Fiorentina and AC Milan.
The two title wins that Laudrup was part of are among 11 that the team nicknamed Drengene fra Vestegnen (The Lads from the Western Outskirts) have won in their history. They topped the table at the end of last season too, and along with Rangers, they are among the eight reigning champions left in the Europa League.
But both clubs have contrasting form domestically this season. As much as Rangers have been criticised for the opening gambit in the Scottish Premiership, they top the Scottish Premiership table. But Brondby are sixth in the Danish Superliga, having won just three of their first 12 league games. One of those wins came at the weekend, a goal from their United States of America midfielder, Christian Cappis, five minutes from time earning a 3-2 win over bottom-of-the-league, Vejle BK.
In his press conference, the Brondby manager, Niels Frederiksen, was keen to emphasise their recent return to form. But it’s not exactly a hot streak. His side didn’t win any of their first eight competitive fixtures this season, and although they beat Allerød FK 8-1 in the Danish Cup, they have won just four of their last nine games.
They are leaking goals too. Brondby have kept just two clean sheets in the 17 games they have played thus far, against Sparta Prague and FC Midtjylland. They’ve both been home games, and in total, our opponents have shipped 25 goals so far this season. If you add into the mix that their first-choice goalkeeper is injured and eyes may be turned towards their league encounter with rivals FC Copenhagen at the weekend, then surely this is a fantastic opportunity for Rangers to flex their attacking muscles and get their Europa League campaign back on the right path?
But Brondby will pose a threat, and no team at this level should be underestimated. Frederiksen, who boasts a master’s degree in economics from the University of Southern Denmark, has a huge amount of coaching experience. He has a penchant for nurturing young talent – he had Barcelona’s Martin Brathwaite under his wing when he was at Esbjerg – and he led Brondby to their first title in 16 years last season.
Tactically, Frederiksen usually employs a forward-thinking 3-5-2. He has, however, been flexible throughout his career, and perhaps he will place more emphasis of defence in this one. He suggested his team would not necessarily be in the same defensive cocoon that they were in against Lyon but did admit that a draw would be a good result for his team. He also made reference to the fact that first place in the group was now out of reach, and that third place had been the target since the outset. I can only imagine the reaction among some Rangers fans had Steven Gerrard admitted similar ambitions!
Brondby’s principal goal threat comes from Mikael Uhre. Their top scorer last season with 19 league goals, he has nine goals so far this season, and he links well with the Serbian international, Andrija Pavlović. Pavlović courted controversy when he joined Brondby in September 2020 – he had had a couple of seasons with their rivals FC Copenhagen – but he is their top marksman in European competition with 11 goals in 52 appearances.
As for Rangers, will Steven Gerrard stick with the bold 4-2-3-1 he has utilised lately or revert to 4-3-3? The latter would seem to be the more likely option. Given his recent indifferent form, it appears likely that Alfredo Morelos will drop out of the XI, with Kemar Roofe replacing him. Gerrard has also played Joe Aribo in a more advanced role in the previous Group A matches, so I’d expect him to be alongside Roofe and, given his good form of late, Ianis Hagi. And in the heart of the pitch, with Glenn Kamara suspend, we should see Steven Davis returning to join John Lundstram and possibly Scott Arfield in a midfield three. Despite the errors at the weekend, I don’t foresee any changes in the back five that faced Hearts either, although a bold move may be to bring the in-form Nathan Patterson in for James Tavernier.
If Gerrard sticks with the same back five then that would mean with the exception of Ryan Kent and Filip Helander, he is calling upon his strongest XI. And if that XI plus the inevitable introduction of a couple of subs from what should be a strong bench play to the level they are capable of then the three points should stay in Glasgow. However, that level hasn’t been reached regularly enough this season, and whilst there are times you can get away with dropping levels in Scotland, the same cannot be said for this tournament.
The stage is therefore set for another night under the lights at Ibrox. Bring it on!