What ifs for Rangers transformed into what next as Gio van Bronckhorst faces transfer recruitment priorities

More than 100,000 lads and lassies had a dream.

As they plotted their routes home on Thursday, it lay in tatters and may never be realised.

The fact of the matter is Rangers, with their resources in relation to the teams they’d beaten along the way, should have never been in Seville.

But having got there and been a goal up with 21 minutes to play, looking on as Eintracht Frankfurt hoisted that trophy stung more than the sunburn those fans would have been feeling on their long trudge back to reality.

History was theirs to grab but they couldn’t hold on to it and that was tougher to take than if they’d played a Barcelona and been stuffed 3-0.

And yet, this was no hard luck story. The Germans were the better team for most of the 90 minutes, created and missed the most glaring chances, and in Filip Kostic had a player who gave James Tavernier the hardest time he’d endured in the competition.

Despite all that, Gio van Bronckhorst ’s men were better, braver and stronger in the extra period. If Ryan Kent’s shot is a few centimetres higher and eludes Kevin Trapp’s lunging leg, the trophy would be sitting inside Ibrox by now.

If.

If Borna Barisic hadn’t cramped up, he’d have taken a spot kick. Aaron Ramsey might not have.

If.

If Alfredo Morelos had been fit, it would have been a different Rangers team and performance. If Kemar Roofe had been fit to play for longer than he did.

If.

But the Germans also had their ‘what if’ moments. It’s just that they don’t matter now. Not when they collected the prize courtesy of five sensational penalties.

So fair play to Frankfurt and what now for Rangers?

Lifting themselves off the floor for the challenge Hearts will possess in the Scottish Cup Final is the immediate priority. Van