Rangers journey back from the bottom is complete after heroic Champions League brilliance – big match verdict

They arrived to find a scene straight from hell awaiting them at the gates. But inside the Philips Stadion it was heaven on earth as, at long last, Rangers secured their space back among Europe’s elite.

It has been said more than once their battle back from the bottom would only truly be complete once they fought their way back to the Champions League top table. Well, after 12 long years in the group-stage wilderness, consider it journey complete. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team served up their latest astonishing act of heroic brilliance on foreign soil to seal a £30million payday.

Madness reigned outside but inside it was Rangers who were calm and measured, soaking up everything PSV had to offer before taking their chance when it finally came on the hour. Pressure was on van Bronckhorst and Antonio Colak to deliver against the Dutch after the boss took the remarkable step of bombing Alfredo Morelos out of his squad.

Well, fair play to the Croatia international. He worked his backside off for the cause and got his reward as Malik Tillman’s foraging presented him with the easiest of tap-ins, which will see Rangers now take their place in pot four in today’s draw.

PSV, owned and set up by electronics giants Philips, aren’t too bad for a work’s team. And their fans certainly know how to spark an atmosphere. The locals began gathering three hours before kick-off and were at fever pitch by the time the teams arrived. As Rangers’ team bus pulled up to the gates, they were met with a fog of red midst as the PSV pyro party exploded into a scene of ear-splitting noise and colour.

Firecrackers shook the senses, acrid fumes from the flares catching the players’ throats as they were trapped outside the front door for a quarter