Giovanni van Bronckhorst Q+A: 'Amazing' Ibrox comeback and Champions League 'last hurdle'

Here's everything the manager had to say following the triumph.

Another fantastic European night tonight. The opposition players and managers said they didn’t think Ibrox would be a factor and I think it was tonight. How good were your players and the crowd?

We needed a big performance. The pressure was on us. We know we’re capable of delivering big nights at Ibrox in Europe. I’m proud of my players, the way they played, with fire and passion to get to the next round. We created an atmosphere together with the fans. It was an amazing night for us.

On nights such as this you need big performances from your players. I thought you got that from Malik Tillman and Tom Lawrence, while John Lundstram ran the midfield. Can you sum up their performances?

We knew the midfield part would be important. The players they had in there, their captain. The play always started with him. We wanted midfield domination. That’s why we played with Tom [Lawrence] and Malik [Tillman] with Arfield. We wanted to try and create more chances than we did last week. John was really important, he kept the pressure on in midfield and provided balance. We know the fire he has in these moments.

You named a very attacking lineup tonight. We seen Lawrence play deeper, as a No.8, is that something that we’ll see more regularly?

He’s a player who can play many positions. He can play wide. We knew we had to create chances, also with Ryan [Kent] on the wing. We know we can create chances. We changed it a bit in the second half with Rabbi [Matondo], but we know this team can play in so many ways. We can change tactics within games. We also have a lot of quality on the bench.

How important was it go into a lead at half time given the momentum that you had in the first half? Did it change your thoughts?

We knew last week it wasn’t a penalty. Today I was happy with decisions from the referee. The moment with [James] Sands in the second half, this could be very important moment. It was important that he didn’t give yellow card. Now we keep pushing. We want to be in the Champions League and I saw that today with my players.

You and your staff will always respect the opponent. With the benefit of hindsight, is there an element that you overthought last week’s game?

Not at all. Last week we didn’t reach levels we know we’re capable of. We’ve played many times before away from home in first leg, trying to keep it compact. Last week we had a lot of moments, but we made bad decisions. Tonight we were much better and sharper. That’s why we could overturn the result from last week.

What are your thoughts on PSV?

Well, it’s a familiar team for me! It’s great to see Ruud van Nistelrooy again. There will be so many familiar faces. It’s a familiar place for me. It’s nice to be back in Holland after so many months in Glasgow! We’re going to prepare well. It’s a big chance for us to take the last hurdle and become a Champions League team this season.

A word for Jon McLaughlin. He had a big save, one-on-one, around 65 minutes or so. It was a big decision to make him No.1, how pleased were you with him tonight?

Goalkeepers always have moments. It’s part of the game when you want your goalkeeper involved in build-up. He had a great save, it was an important save at 2-0 then we scored to make 3-0. I’m very happy with performance of Jon tonight, and to keep a clean sheet in Europe is always what you want.

A word on James Tavernier, the goalkeeper was using every trick in the book to put him off. You see it often when players go on and miss that penalty. What does that show about his character?

He has a lot of character. He has shown that last season and all the seasons before. He’s the captain and you always want him to step up. It was an important moment, to go 1-0 up. Then to go on and score the second goal. Psychologically, it was a great moment to score.