Rangers boss on brink of emulating Old Firm legends but knows only silverware will make him an Ibrox success

Giovanni van Bronckhorst is on the cusp of becoming only the third manager to lead a Scottish club into the semi-finals of a European tournament this century.

If he can engineer a Rangers victory over Braga in their Europa League quarter-final, advancing to territory where only Walter Smith (2008) and Martin O’Neill (2003) were previously able to venture since the millennium, it will be a remarkable achievement by any metric.

Yet van Bronckhorst knows that the only true measure of success in the role to which he was appointed last November is the delivery of silverware to the Ibrox trophy room.

Retaining the Premiership title which last season ended a barren decade on the major trophy front for Rangers now looks a very long shot after Sunday’s Old Firm defeat which leaves van Bronckhorst’s side trailing Celtic by six points with six league games left.

If it places greater emphasis on the Europa League and Scottish Cup for Rangers, van Bronckhorst insists the club’s board had no need to outline his requirement to win trophies when they handed him the job.

“They don’t have to explain the pressure of being manager of Rangers,” he said. “I’ve been here as a player, I had the pressure when I was manager at Feyenoord.

“So the pressure is always there. Of course you need to perform. I want to perform well with my team. The players want to perform well and that’s what we are trying to do and work hard for.

“Of course, in the end you want to have silverware. That’s why you work hard all season and that’s what we are going to do until the end of the season.

“There is disappointment, obviously. You have to switch immediately to focus on the game that’s ahead and that’s Braga.

“That’s what the players have done, what we all have