Gerrard reacts to Celtic defeat, offer strong warning to Rangers stars

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Rangers will be hoping to avoid a European shock like Celtic suffered.

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has told Rangers TV that it’s ‘disappointing’ to see Celtic crash out of the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Celtic were in action against CFR Cluj on Tuesday, playing the second leg of their Champions League qualifying clash having drawn the first leg 1-1 in Romania.

The Bhoys were strong favourites having grabbed an away goal in the first leg, but endured a dismal night, losing 4-3 in a topsy-turvy game.

A 5-4 aggregate defeat sends Celtic out of qualifying a round before the last stage, just as they did last year, and questions are being asked about the club’s recruitment and strategy.

Celtic and Neil Lennon will be gutted by the defeat, but it also impacts all Scottish clubs in terms of the UEFA coefficient, and process Scottish Premiership sides must go through to reach European group stages.

Celtic are out of the Champions League qualifiers and Kilmarnock were dumped out of the Europa League qualifiers by Connah’s Quay, meaning pressure is on Rangers on Thursday night.

They lead Midtjylland 4-2 from the first leg of their Europa League qualifier, and must now finish off the job at Ibrox, with Gerrard strongly warning his players not to think the job is done, as Cluj’s comeback shows that no tie is over until it’s over.

Gerrard offered his honest verdict – no mocking, no sneering, no refusing to answer the question – on Celtic’s exit, admitting he found it ‘disappointing’ as Scottish teams are all trying to help the coefficient, but sadly, Celtic couldn’t get the job done against Cluj.

“All Scottish teams do their best to help the coefficient so to that aspect it is disappointing,” said Gerrard. “It shows you can’t take a first leg result for granted.

“My players need to take note of that going into tomorrow night. Tomorrow is a good test to see where we are at from a mental point of view. Last week at times Midtjylland caused us problems and carry a threat. It would be naive of us to think it was already won,” he added.