Rangers in meek Liverpool surrender as Battle of Britain hype falls flat - Keith Jackson's big match verdict

They say it’s the hope that kills you, but that’s not always strictly the case.

Sometimes, it’s Trent Alexander-Arnold. But mostly, on night’s such as these, it’s Mo Salah. Yes, Rangers may have crossed the border still high on the fumes of Brighton’s three-goal ram raid of the Kop at the weekend and fuelled by a misplaced belief that a petted-lipped, wobbly legged Liverpool might somehow be theirs for the taking.

But when reality knocked them back into their senses last night – and it didn’t take long – it was the Englishman and Egyptian who punched the stars into their eyes. It must be said, this hardly lived up to its Battle of Britain billing given Rangers were unable to fire a single shot on target until five minutes from time when subs Rabbi Matondo and Antonio Colak were denied in quick succession. By that point another three Group A points had been meekly surrendered.

The truth is, had it not been for the time-defying brilliance of Allan McGregor this latest loss would have been a great deal more savage. McGregor was the reason Rangers might even feel as if they got out of town with their dignity intact, despite hardly laying a glove of their own on the man at the other end of the pitch.

Which does beg a rather obvious question as to what on earth made Giovanni van Bronckhorst drop him to the bench for so long in the first place earlier this season? That’s starting to look like the unfathomable mistake many warned him it was from the moment it was made.

That it’s taken the manager this long to realise it, does not reflect well on his judgement, especially given the standard of McGregor’s work in back-to-back Champions League games. But there will also be questions asked of the Dutch gaffer’s approach to