Karel Geraerts in surprise Rangers claim as Union SG boss insists the tie was lost LAST WEEK

Karel Geraerts admitted Union Saint-Gilloise had already blown their Champions League chances before even setting foot in Glasgow. The Belgians were swept away by Gio van Bronckhorst’s ramped-up Rangers as goals from James Tavernier, Antonio Colak and Malik Tillman overturned last week’s limp loss in Leuven.

But Geraerts reckoned his team’s hopes were already up in smoke after keeper Jon McLaughlin pulled off a crucial stop to prevent striker Dante Vanzeir giving his side a crucial 3-0 first-leg lead at the Den Dreef Stadion. Geraerts said: “It was lost last week for us because it was only 2-0 in the home game.

“At that moment we played better and had chances to score a third goal. So we knew when we came to the away game in this great stadium with this magnificent crowd that it would be hard. We were very well organised I think, we didn’t give away chances and everything was close until just before half-time there was an individual mistake from one of our players and the second half was the same. I don’t think we gave too many chances to them, but we gave some opportunities away and against a team like this they have big qualities.”

Union looked to be doing well in their bid to frustrate Gers until Siebe van der Heyden’s inexplicable handball just before half-time gave Tavernier the chance to kick-start Gers’ rescue mission from the spot. That sent the noise levels soaring round Ibrox but Geraerts reckons it was Rangers European nous that made the difference instead of the pumped-up punters.

“Until that moment everything was under control,” he said when asked about the penalty incident. “We were aware of the first 20 minutes because everybody announced that they would start really hard. We controlled everything very