It became a greater disbelief in ‘what has just happened?’ as if it should not have occurred. Former Rangers striker Kenny Miller – now with Partick Thistle – recalls the surprise that engulfed him in four July 2017 as the Ibrox club suffered the worst European result in their history. A game that began with a 1-zero aggregate lead in opposition to Luxembourg minnows Progres Niederkorn resulted in removal from the Europa League and supervisor Pedro Caixinha remonstrating with fans in a hedge.

As the sides prepare to satisfy inside the 2nd round of Europa League qualifying on Thursday, Miller recounts one of the lows in his career as Rangers fell at the first hurdle in their first European campaign for five years.
The build-up of Miller’s calm finish won the first leg at Ibrox 1-0, a deserved but barely irritating victory that set up an unnecessarily testing return in Luxembourg. That being so, have there been any troubles in the build-up to the second leg?

No, by no means, you are going into the game now, not most effective knowing that you’re taking the lead into it, but assured that you could cross on and win the sport,” Miller says. So there was not anything, no bad feelings. It changed into much like any game at that degree of the season, wherein in case you do not stand up to the specified degrees quickly, it’s tough to increase them within the game then, mainly while a team was given a lead now to preserve directly to.

A goalless first half of supposed Rangers were nevertheless in advance inside the tie, even supposing their overall performance at the night time had been uninspiring. An aim by way of Emmanuel Francoise leveled things on the mixture – however, the panic did not set in for Caixinha’s gamers. You lose goals in games and feature setbacks; however, it is about bouncing returned,” Miller says. “I don’t forget still wondering, ‘We’re in the sport; all we want to do is get a goal.’ If we’d scored, they had wanted another two. Seventy-five mins: 2-zero Progres

But it becomes the hosts who struck the essential subsequent blow. Sebastien Thill curled in an unfastened kick from the proper, which kept away from anyone and crept into the internet to ship the Progres players wild and their warring parties staring in disbelief. There’s absolute confidence that there has been an element of surprise within the crew and on the bench as properly,” Miller says. “But once more, my sole focus as one of the extra-skilled gamers became trying to re-awareness the group. We did not move into it complacent because they got here and made life difficult at Ibrox. We knew what we would be dealing with, so there were no excuses.”

Full time and the aftermath, Miller hit the bar with a clever lob within the dying moments as Rangers desperately chased the goal that would have placed them through on away goals, but soon after came the very last whistle and the embarrassment of being Progres’ first victims in European soccer. They had the most effective score once in European opposition earlier than that nighttime.

The Rangers gamers trudged lower back to the dressing room as their opposition celebrated on the pitch to Queen’s ‘We Are The Champions.’ So, turned into the away dressing room a cauldron of rage or an area of bowled-over silence? From what I can do, not forget it changed into extra the latter,” Miller says. “For all the build-up and the dream to gain European soccer once more and communicate to accomplish the organization levels, it changed into more disbelief of what had befallen, as it should not have.”