Rangers: Defeat is tough to take says Steven Gerrard

The Gers went down 3-1 to Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League round of 16 and now have a mountain to climb in the second leg.

“The scoreline is a tough one for us to take – to lose 3-1 at Ibrox was always going to be disappointing,” said Gerrard.

“I have to pay my respects to the opposition who are a good team with a real style about them and some high-class individuals.

“I thought we were too respectful in the 45 minutes – we had a good shape about us but we were too passive.

“We got the reaction we wanted in the second-half – we were more aggressive and forced them into errors. We created some decent opportunities – but the third goal we conceded was a top, top finish.”

The breakthrough for Leverkusen came from the penalty spot courtesy of VAR – but the Ibrox boss was determined to take the positives from the second-half performance at least.

“The first goal – the penalty – we ask for VAR to get all the decisions right and it probably is the right decision but it’s a tough one,” said Gerrard.

“We’ve done ever so well to get back in the game. – if it finishes at 2-1 it’s not the end of the world, but 3-1 makes it tougher. We’ll give it our best shot next week.

“I was really pleased with our second-half showing – I thought the substitutes were really positive.

“The crowd were with us and we had a top team really rattled for certain periods of the second-half.

“I can’t criticise the players – we are where we are in the Europa League and at time tonight I thought we looked a right good match for Leverkusen.”

The entire sporting world – including UEFA tournaments as well as the domestic football calendar – is of course on hold as the coronavirus medical emergency gathers pace.

Gerrad says they will listen to football’s governing body for guidance.

“At the moment we’re told the game will be going ahead behind closed doors – we’ll listen to UEFA and follow what we need to do,” he said.

“I don’t think anyone wants to see the remainder of both competitions played behind closed doors or teams deciding to pull out – but I’m not going to sit here after a 3-1 defeat and say that the tournament should be cancelled.”