Ronald de Boer warns Rangers that Ajax won't fall into PSV trap ahead of 'two brothers' Champions League clash

A walkover. Like a predator pouncing on its prey.

According to Ronald de Boer, that’s how everyone in Holland saw PSV’s Champions League play-off tie against Rangers. Instead, the Dutch ended up with egg on their face. And de Boer is now convinced that Ajax won’t make the same mistake in the group stage. The former Ibrox star’s mouth is watering at the thought of Group A, which commences in Amsterdam on Tuesday night.

For de Boer, trying to pick a winner between Ajax and Rangers is like trying to choose a favourite sibling. When Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side sent one of Holland’s big guns spinning out of the competition, it sent shockwaves around the Netherlands. And de Boer says that will have acted as a warning to Alfred Schreuder not to take Gers lightly. Ahead of match day one in the Champions League, the ex-Barcelona ace told MailSport : “What will Ajax have learned from the PSV games? That you don’t under-estimate Rangers.

“After PSV beat Monaco in the qualifying round, they thought Rangers would be easy prey. They were saying it would be a walkover.

“If you asked anyone in Holland if PSV were going to make the Champions League group stage, they’d have said yes. Certainly, more than 80 per cent of the people expected it.

“But after the game, everyone said Rangers deserved to go through because PSV were so hopeless. And that’s a compliment to Rangers. They made them look hopeless. Ajax have been warned now that they’ll have to be on top of their game if they want to beat Rangers. People here were impressed by Rangers in those games.

Not only were Rangers under-estimated in de Boer’s homeland, he claims the manager was shown a distinct lack of respect as well. He played with van Bronckhorst at Ibrox under