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PSV Eindhoven v Rangers: Can Gers make it through to group stage?

By Ollie Hawthorn

Rangers teammates celebrate with Abdallah Sima after he scored the team's opening goal against PSV Eindhoven last week in Glasgow. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Rangers teammates celebrate with Abdallah Sima after he scored the team's opening goal against PSV Eindhoven last week in Glasgow. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) /
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Rabbi Matondo (# 17) watches his shot go into the net against PSV Eindhoven in their Champions League playoff match last week. The goal briefly put Rangers up 2-1 but the Dutch club would come back to earn a draw. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images) /

Rangers travel to Holland on Wednesday to face PSV Eindhoven in the second leg of their Champions League playoff series after the teams played out a topsy-turvy 2-2 draw in Glasgow last week.

Michael Beale’s side took the lead in the first half via a fantastic strike from Abdallah Sima but were pegged back when Ibrahim Sangare slotted past Jack Butland after the break.

Rabbi Matondo put Rangers back in front with an emphatic finish but Luuk De Jong rescued a draw for the Dutch side with a flicked header from a corner in the final 10 minutes.

Rangers go to the Philips Stadion off the back of a 2-0 win away at Ross County on Saturday. Goals from Kemar Roofe and James Tavernier lifted the Gers up to 4th in the Scottish Premiership table.

Rangers aim to duplicate last year’s result

Michael Beale’s side will hope to use the experience of last season’s playoff win over PSV to their advantage here. Antonio Colak’s goal gave the Scottish side a 1-0 win in Eindhoven 12 months ago and a 3-2 success on aggregate. They will be hoping for a similar triumph on Wednesday night.

Peter Bosch’s Eindhoven will be pleased that the tie is level after the first leg, and they will be confident going into the second leg on home soil.

A fast start will be demanded by their fans as they look to put the tie to bed and advance to the group stages of a competition that they won back in 1988.

PSV haven’t played in the league since a 3-1 win over Vitesse Arnheim on Aug. 19, so they’ll be hoping that the extra rest will lead to an energetic display against Rangers.

Eindhoven’s injury list

The hosts are sweating on the fitness of defenders Andre Ramalho and Olivier Boscagli after they were both forced off against Rangers last week. Ramalho has been training this week so should be available on Wednesday night.

Boscagli may not be risked with a competitive Eredivisie season to consider.

PSV will also be without Armando Obispo, Patrick Van Aanholt, Mauro Junior and Fredrik Oppegard but could give debuts to Sergiño Dest and Jerdy Schouten.

Rangers have a clean bill of health for the trip to Holland, apart from long-term absentee Steven Davis and Ridvan Yilmaz, who has a knock.

Kemar Roofe is pushing for a start after his goalscoring exploits at the weekend.

Likely Lineups and Prediction

PSV Eindhoven (4-2-3-1)

Benitez; Teze, Ramalho, Schouten, Dest; Veerman, Sangare; Bakayoko, Saibari, Lang; De Jong

Rangers (4-3-1-2)

Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Barisic; Raskin, Jack, Cifuentes; Cantwell; Sima, Roofe

Next. Aston Villa cruises to win over Burnley. dark

Despite the decent result at Ibrox last week, going to Eindhoven is a very tricky prospect for Michael Beale’s side and PSV will be confident of finishing the job at home.

Prediction: PSV Eindhoven 2 Rangers 1

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