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“We need to show more aggression”- Super Eagles forward devastated as Rangers’ Champions League hopes fade

Glasgow Rangers missed out of their qualification for UEFA Champions League participation after a 5-1 loss to Dutch’s PSV Eindhoven

Rangers and Super Eagles striker, Cyriel Kolawole Dessers was left distraught after his team lost to Dutch side, PSV Eindhoven at the Philips Stadion, Soccernet.ng reports.

Scottish Champions, Rangers, will have to wait until next season to taste UEFA Champions League football after PSV defeated them 5-1 to go through to the Competition’s group stage.

Rangers knew they had work to do after a 2-2 draw at home to Eindhoven, but their abysmal second-half away performance didn’t give them much chance as the home side swept them away.

Dessers, was involved in the first-leg result, setting up a goal at home to keep the tie open, but after a confirmed 3-7 loss to Eredivisie Champions, the striker was left heartbroken and didn’t hold back in his post-match presser.

Rangers had high hopes after an intense game in the first leg were dashed after Ismael Saibari scored a brace. Tavanier pulled one back for the Scots, but just a minute later, former Barca striker, Luuk de Jong, scored again to extend the lead for the host.

“I think we need to show more aggression going forward in the early stages of the game. With more courage – be a bit braver. But this is a fairly new team. We have nine new players. We are still growing,” Dessers told UEFA.com.

The twenty-eight-year-old felt things could have been better if his team took advantage of their moments, as it turned out to be the difference between the sides.

“In the first half, it was a sloppy game from both sides. But they scored at the right moment. Then they took control. After we scored there was hope, but they scored again from a set piece.”

Gutted, Cyriel pointed out that the quality made the difference between both sides, and his disappointment was evident because the Rangers team that put up a battle against Eindhoven last week, lost the war last night.

 “Obviously it’s disappointing. We came here with high hopes after a good performance last week, where we had PSV under control. We started well, but PSV then came into the game, and they have a lot of quality in every department.”

Luuk De Jong, however, made history with PSV, becoming the first player in the club’s history to score in five consecutive European matches. Willy van der Kuijlen, Ralf Edström, Gerrie Deijkers, Romário, and Balázs Dzsudzsák had all scored in four European games in a row.

Cyriel will hope to bounce back with Rangers this weekend, and get his name on the scoresheet for the first time with his new club to show the fans what he’s capable of.

Adefolahan Guerreiro

Adefolahan is a multilingual journalist and writer at Soccernet Nigeria. With a track record of involvement in College sports, Adefolahan is focused on crafting engaging football content and utilising his language skills and extensive sports knowledge to enhance content accessibility for a global audience. He has interviewed Nigerian stars like Finidi George, Junior Lokosa, and Abraham Onahi Ogbu.

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