Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has insisted that his side must learn from Celtic’s European failure and deal with their own second leg against FC Midtjylland on Thursday much better.
Celtic’s hopes of reaching the Champions League group stage ended for the second season running when they suffered a shock 4-3 defeat to Romanian outfit CFR Cluj on Tuesday night.
The Scottish champions will now be competing in a qualifier for a place in the group stage of the Europa League.
Rangers scored a resounding 4-2 win over Midtjylland away from home last week and are odds on favourites to progress to the Europa League qualifying playoff round tonight.
But Gerrard believes Celtic’s defeat is warning and a lesson for his players and insisted that the European tie is far from over as teams such as Midtjylland are as desperate as Rangers to progress.
The Rangers boss said in a press conference: “What it shows last night is that European ties are never over, even when you get a positive result in the first leg.
“Some of these teams that people don't know much about – Cluj from Romania for example or Midtjylland from Denmark – they carry a huge threat.
“They are so desperate for financial reasons to progress, like most of us.
"So my players need to take note of last night and make sure we deal with our second leg much better.”
Rangers are looking to make the Europa League group stage for the second season running.
