Rangers hold advantage but Mourinho's Fenerbahce promise night of drama at Ibrox

After last week’s blistering win over Fenerbahce in Istanbul, Rangers are in touching distance of the Europa League quarter-finals – but Barry Ferguson’s side need a strong performance at Ibrox on Thursday to take another step forward in the continental competition.

Underdogs ahead of kick-off in the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Rangers got off to a stunning start when Cyriel Dessers found the net after just six minutes to silence the Turkish crowd. The hosts drew level through Alexander Dijku but two Vaclav Cerny goals handed Rangers a huge advantage, and it could have been more had Cyriel Dessers not had two goals disallowed.

That dominant performance is behind the team now, and Rangers players are looking ahead to a huge night at Ibrox. The task is clear, if not necessarily simple.

Win, draw or lose by a single goal, and Rangers go into the quarter-finals to face Roma or Athletic Bilbao. A defeat by a two-goal margin will force extra time and possibly penalties. A heavy defeat will see agony after last week’s jubilation.

Dessers expressed his view on the permutations, saying simply: “They have an exceptional manager and have had a few nice comeback stories in Europe. But we don’t want to be part of that.”

With no domestic fixture at the weekend, planning and preparation for the Ibrox game began the minute the players left the pitch in Turkey late last Thursday. Interim Rangers boss Ferguson was adamant then that there was plenty of work to do. “It’s only half-time,” he stressed.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, his outlook hadn’t changed and he said he was prepared for Fenerbahce to throw everything at his team rather than accept a meek exit from the competition.

“They are 3-1 down,” he said. “We are prepared for that.

“They like to get balls into the box, so my back two, three or five need to be prepared for that. We have covered all sorts of scenarios.”

The manager kept his cards close to his chest when asked about selection and “one or two” injury doubts but the first leg may give indications of how he approaches the decisive game.

Ianis Hagi, Hamza Igamane, Nedim Bajrami, and others were left on the bench in favour of a more defensively minded team that had Ridvan Yilmaz at right wingback and James Tavernier on the right side of a three-man back line. It was a pragmatic approach that Mourinho himself might have admired, but Rangers found attacking intent and focused on counters that Fenerbahce struggled to deal with.

Sitting on a significant lead, the interim boss might be tempted to go for more of the same, though his talk about the importance of getting Ibrox “rocking” might betray a preference to get on the front foot.

If a cautious approach proves to be a winning one, Rangers fans will be happy with more of the same. Fenerbahce’s support and Mourinho will demand something different from their side.

In a passionate post-match assessment of last week’s game, Mourinho said there were no excuses, but offered up the possibility that the absence of former Manchester United midfielder Fred may have been a factor in his team’s poor performance.

The Brazilian is back for Thursday’s match and even if his inclusion is the only difference in personnel, there’s certain to be other differences in Fenerbahce’s game.

Last Thursday, the losing side had 23 shots to Rangers’ eight – seven on target to the visitors’ six. They had 11 corners to three, 65% possession and they couldn’t make it count. Players of the quality of Edin Dzeko and Youssef En Nesyri and Filip Kostic will pose a danger and Mourinho will have his side fired up to claw back the tie.

The Portuguese was clear in his beliefs last week.

“The only thing I tell this is don’t celebrate too much, because there is a second match to play, that’s my only advice,” he said.

“If they celebrate after the second match, I will congratulate them, but now calm down because it’s not over.”

Thursday night at Ibrox will be anything but calm. Ninety minutes of drama, at least, awaits.