PSV – Rangers

The home side will take revenge on the Scots for last year’s fiasco

Surprisingly, the draw not only brought PSV and Rangers together in the play-off round of the Champions League qualification for the second year in a row, but also started to settle the relationship between the teams just like in the Champions League 2022/2023. As in the previous season, the first match of the duel took place in Glasgow, the author of the first goal of the Dutch club was Sangare, PSV had to get back in the end of the game, and the match eventually ended with a score of 2:2. Another thing is that Peter Bos's team expects that after the first match, the analogies with last year will be over. The result of the return meeting is to blame. As in the upcoming game, then Rangers travelled to Eindhoven in the status of a clear underdog, which bookmakers predicted defeat in regulation time. However, the Dutch players burned out, and the only goal of the match was scored by Rangers player Cholak, which sent the Scottish club to the group stage of the Champions League, and PSV - to conquer the Europa League. Bookmakers are once again offering the home side as favourites for the return leg with odds of 1.51. After securing another vice-champion status in the Eredivisie, the Eindhoven club strengthened well in the off-season. Including PSV on different terms added players of the second plan of Barcelona and Bayern, as well as good players of lesser status teams. The starting part of the new season PSV spent very confidently. Bos's wards won the Dutch Super Cup in the first meeting in August, because with a total score of 7:2 twice defeated Austrian Sturm and in the two starting rounds of the Eredivisie with a difference of two goals defeated Utrecht and Vitesse. The fact that in Glasgow it was PSV who battled back in the final quarter of the game and secured a comfortable result will add an extra psychological advantage for the hosts. Rangers were decimated in last year's Champions League group stage, losing all six games by a combined score of 2:22. This result emphasises the randomness of the Scots' entry into Europe's elite tournament. At the last stage of qualification of the current draw Rangers passed Servette rather uncertainly. Most likely, this time PSV will win the decisive meeting.