Rangers 1-0 Progres Niederkorn: Luxembourg side eye historic first Euro win
- Published
Progres Niederkorn's Paolo Amodio was pleased just to avoid a thrashing at Ibrox but now thinks his side can knock Rangers out of the Europa League.
The head coach was delighted that his Luxembourg outfit left Scotland only 1-0 behind after the first leg.
"I think all the pressure is on Rangers to make sure they go through," he said.
"They probably expected to win tonight by five or six goals and it's not the case, so anything could happen next week."
Progres, who have yet to win any of their 13 games in European competition, finished fourth in Luxembourg's top flight last season, 21 points behind champions F91 Dudelange.
But they will go into next Tuesday's second leg at the 4,800-capacity Stade Jos Haupert with renewed hope of a famous victory.
To do so they will have to improve on their two best European results - a 1-1 draw with Glentoran in 1981, thanks to their only goal in European competition, and a 0-0 with Shamrock Rovers in 2015.
"We will do our best," said Amodio. "We will start with 0-0 next week and anything is possible in football."
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha stressed after the first leg that his side, playing their first European tie in six years, needed time to gel.
Midfielder Ryan Jack, one of the three summer signings to make their competitive debut, is confident there is more to come from Rangers and was delighted with the reception he received followin ghis move from Aberdeen.
"I really enjoyed it," he told Rangers TV after a game won by Kenny Miller's first-half goal. "The atmosphere was incredible, coming out of the tunnel was outstanding and it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
"Those are the types of nights I signed for Rangers for. The European nights under the lights are always special and we got the result in the end, but we know it is far from over.
"I think maybe the final pass was missing or the final cross. We just want to be more clinical as a team to finish the tie off.
"I thought they just sat in and made it frustrating for us, but that is what is going to happen when teams come to Ibrox."
Jack admitted he was still adapting to his new team and coach.
"Sometimes it is difficult on your debut and I am still trying to get used to my team-mates and they are probably still trying to get used to me," added the 25-year-old.
"There are another few new signings in the side and we are still trying to gel together.
"On the whole, we are happy with the performance, but we know we need to step it up again next week."
- Published29 June 2017
- Published29 June 2017
- Published29 June 2017