How van Bronckhorst doubled down on his convictions to prevent late PSV onslaught

The Ibrox side were in a similar position only three months ago in the Europa League final in Seville. Joe Aribo’s go-ahead goal arrived three minutes earlier than Antonio Colak’s, yet Rangers’ resistance lasted only 12 minutes against Eintracht Frankfurt.

In Holland, however, things were different. Although Jon McLaughlin was forced into a smart stop to deny Cody Gakpo in a one-on-one, there was a serenity to the way that Rangers held their Dutch counterparts at arm’s length.

Indeed, instead of retreating towards their own penalty box, van Bronckhorst’s side doubled down on their initial approach.

“I was more relaxed than last week because of the way we played. It was very controlled,” the Rangers manager said afterwards.

If we take a glance at the PPDA (passes per defensive action) chart from the game, the Ibrox side became more aggressive after taking the lead.

Typically teams will retreat territorially after going ahead to protect the space around their penalty area where high-value chances tend to occur. But rather than defending space, Rangers retained man-orientated pressure on PSV.

With the Dutch side in possession inside their own half, Colak firstly encourages a pass across the defence by sitting on the toes of Ibrahim Sangare.

John Lundstram, Scott Arfield and Ryan Kent (far side) are all engaged in man-marking duties.

Malik Tillman, meanwhile, sits spare and is both accessible to Sangare if he escapes Colak’s cover shadow and also blocking the direct passing lane into the central pocket for PSV.

Arfield’s intangible role is also telling, with the 33-year-old instructing Scott Wright to step up onto Joey Veerman as opposed to collapsing deeper.

With Kent tracking his man into the backline when required on the far side of the ball, Rangers often resembled an asymmetrical 5-4-1 shape without possession. As displayed in the example below, this allowed the team to stifle PSV’s ball progression down one side of the pitch before forcing them to recycle across the backline.

With Kent pinned back, Rangers were content to allow PSV’s right-sided central defender Jordan Teze time on the ball. The half-time withdrawal of Luuk de Jong for the Dutch outfit due to injury stripped Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side of the ability to play diagonal passes out of defence towards a physical aerial option.

In the instance below later in the second half, Arfield is once again orchestrating Rangers’ pressure from the front.

The back five is visible again, with Tillman detaching from the midfield to provide pressure on the ball for the away side.

Rangers continue to hold a high defensive line, compressing the space between the midfield and defensive line to avoid ceding territory.

PSV continue to recycle the ball across the defensive line, before Rangers pounce on the square pass out to the left touchline to force their Dutch counterparts back towards their own goal.

The decrease in Rangers’ PPDA therefore was not so much a reflection of the side’s raw defensive zealousness, but rather the fact that PSV were in thrall to the Ibrox side’s man-orientated pressure. Simply put, their passing volume suffered due to the lack of available options.

And the one opportunity that did arise for van Nistelrooy’s side can be attributed to the sheer individual quality of Cody Gakpo.

In one of the few moments in the second half where PSV went direct, Gakpo is able to collect the second ball.

Dribbling powerfully inside, Goldson steps into midfield in an attempt to thwart the winger. However, Gakpo skips away.

James Sands then steps out, forcing the Dutchman to lay the ball off to a teammate, but the American slips. With Goldson still recovering his position, Rangers are short of bodies at the heart of the defence.

PSV are able to play into the space vacated by Goldson and Sands, with McLaughlin quick off his line to thwart the danger and make a save.

Going in the opposite direction, van Bronckhorst also made a pair of intelligent substitutions with 18 minutes remaining as Wright and Arfield replaced Tom Lawrence and Glen Kamara.

The former injected more pace to the Rangers side with Kent pinned deep on the opposite flank, while Arfield’s capacity to cover short distances in a quick manner was used to further refine van Bronckhorst’s defensive approach.

By introducing fresh legs on the side which PSV looked to overload across two legs, the Gers had greater defensive coverage against the Dutch’s side chief attacking threats for the closing stages.

And with Philipp Max throwing caution to the wind with his runs from left full-back, Rangers could expose PSV going in the opposition direction.

As the ball is cleared upfield, Wright does commendably to keep the ball in play and find Arfield with a header.

PSV’s left-sided central defender is dragged out to cover…

…Allowing Wright and Arfield to play a give-and-go around him.

Wright’s pace forces Armando Obispo to scythe him down, drawing a free-kick in the final third for Rangers.

With Colak’s goal on the hour-mark helping Rangers put one foot in the group stages, van Bronckhorst was unwavering in his commitment to the facets of play both in and out of possession that had brought Rangers to that point in the game.

By keeping a high defensive line, Rangers minimised the spaces that PSV could access in midfield. Additionally, the retention of elements of the man-orientated approach allowed the away side to stifle the individuality of PSV’s dangerous attack.

Rangers may have been indebted to an excellent McLaughlin save, but even the Gers No.1 was quick to acknowledge the efforts from the players in front of him.

“We were prepared to go all the way if it needed extra-time and penalties," he said. "But the boys have delivered again. The boss said to everyone how proud he is, and for myself to be a part of that watching the team in front of me execute in that fashion is amazing."

Those 30 minutes can feel like an eternity as a supporter, but it will take its rightful place in Rangers folklore.