Rangers crashed out of the Europa League with a humiliating 2-1 aggregate defeat to Progres Niederkorn.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha has told The Scottish Sun that he told his players to keep moving forward after their embarrassing defeat to Progres Niederkorn.
The Gers were drawn against Luxembourg’s Progres Niederkorn in the Europa League qualifiers last month, and a 1-0 win in the first leg at Ibrox last week had the Gers edging towards the next round.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha
However, Tuesday’s trip for the second leg turned into a complete nightmare, as Rangers suffered an embarrassing 2-0 defeat thanks to goals from Emmanuel Francoise and Sebastan Thill.
With a 2-1 aggregate defeat, Rangers’ return to European competition lasted just five days – and the pressure is already mounting on manager Pedro Caixinha.
The Portuguese boss, who left Qatari side Al-Gharafa in order to replace Mark Warburton at Ibrox in March, endured a mixed start to life at Ibrox before being backed with new signings this summer.
Eight new faces have arrived to boost the Rangers squad, but it made little difference as Caixinha presided over what was arguably the most embarrassing defeat in the club’s history.
After the final whistle in Luxembourg, Caixinha told The Scottish Sun that his message to the players at full time was to keep moving forward, attempting to prevent the Rangers squad from dwelling on their disastrous result.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha
Caixinha added that this was the worst result of his managerial career, but he has the confidence in his players to bounce back from Tuesday’s nightmare.
“It is always a setback being out in this qualifier knowing that you are better than the opponent,” said Caixinha. “We did everything to get the result and it might happen once in a lifetime. It has happened to us, but we have to keep moving forward. This is the message I gave to the players.”
“Normally, I don’t speak with the players straight after a match, but this was an extraordinary situation and I just told them that I have full confidence and trust in them. I will defend them all of the time. I will keep moving things forward, believe me. It is totally the worst result of my managerial career. One of things which was said before the game was unthinkable and it has really happened,” he added.
Do you think Caixinha is still the man for the job?
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