Rangers break Giovanni van Bronckhorst's pressing record in Union rout

Giovanni van Bronckhorst once again led his side to a famous European victory, overturning a first-leg two-goal deficit and harnessing the power of Ibrox once more.

Rangers pressed with aggression up until the final few minutes, clocking 2.2 PPDA in the opening 15 minutes and 3.71 throughout the entire 90 minutes. Passes Per Defensive Actions measures the number of passes a team allows on average before attempting to regain the ball.

For context, Rangers’ PPDA average in the Europa League last year at home was 10.42. The only time they’ve pressed with greater intensity for 90 minutes was during a 6-0 win over St. Josephs back in 2019, when Steven Gerrard’s side recorded a PPDA of 3.13.

“Today, we were under a pressure that we had never known. The speed of play was enormous,” USG CEO Phillipe Bormans admitted after the game.

“We needed a big performance,” van Bronckhorst had said.

“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.”

His men were well worth their victory based on the numbers alone, amassing 3.04xG to the visitor’s 0.59 and holding 69 percent of possession.

The game’s trendline captures not only the velocity of last night’s second half, but the importance of scoring before the interval.

Rangers had enjoyed total control without creating all that much by the time James Tavernier opened the scoring from the spot and thereafter, Ibrox believed in the inevitability of victory.

As demonstrated by the thick lines on the below pass map, Rangers tended to build attacks on the left and hit crosses to the back post. It was a remedy that led to all three strikes on the night.

The visitors scarcely enjoyed spells of possession and the disconnect shown in their pass map demonstrates that fact.

Rangers’ domination is also clear in the average position map. Notice how high Scott Arfield (No.37) played, with Malik Tillman (No.71) and Tom Lawrence (No.11) both tucking infield.

The home side scored with their three best chances of the evening. Tavernier’s penalty (0.76xG), Antonio Colak’s header (0.77xG) and Tillman’s winner (0.38xG) all found the back of the net.

The visitor's best chance came in injury time. Aside from Simon Adingra’s left-footed effort (0.26xG), all of their chances recorded an xG below 0.10. They created very little in the way of quality opportunities.

At home, Rangers can play with an intensity few opponents can match. Union were another side who fell victim to that fact.