Rangers faced Hertha Berlin at a training camp in Spain and didn’t look to have any cutting edge
Rangers boss Philippe Clement saw 22 players take to the pitch in their friendly clash against Hertha Berlin on the Spanish coast – but none of them could break down the German defence in a 1-0 loss.
A heavy winter schedule was given respite with the current Scottish January break taking place, allowing clubs to take time off over the course of the next couple of weeks – with the Gers opting to travel to La Manga in Spain for a winter training camp in the warm weather.
It saw a matchup against German giants Hertha Berlin – recently relegated from the Bundesliga – though the game didn’t quite go as the Gers planned. A strong start saw John Lundstram and Rabbi Matondo have efforts on goal that somewhat troubled the Hertha defence, but the side from the German capital stood strong and took the lead just before half-time with a goal from centre-back Marc-Oliver Kempf.
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Clement made 11 changes at half-time in a bid to give his second XI consisting of backup players and youth stars a run out, but the intensity lacked from the beginning of the second half and little time had gone before Clement was given his marching orders after a foul was awarded against Scott Wright.
With a youthful team out, Rangers never really threatened and Jack Butland stood strong to keep the deficit to just one – but nothing much in terms of clawing the game back occured, bar Cyriel Dessers having a half-chance late on. Football Scotland takes a look at six standouts.
The speedster was trusted to start under Clement in southern Spain and he duly impressed. Got a stinging shot off early on that caused the Hertha defence problems by driving into the box on his favoured right from the left-wing.
The Wales international certainly gives Rangers a solid backup for Abdallah Sima over the next month due to the Africa Cup of Nations, whilst also proving fruitful throughout the season.
Tavernier played a lot higher than he is used to playing in La Manga, and he impressed somewhat in his role up the pitch.
The skipper is normally ultra-wide on the flanks with his deep crosses causing problems, but he was effectively playing as a right winger when the Gers had the ball this time out – and some neat play with Dujon Sterling almost fashioned some chances.
Danced through the defence from minute one and on a bobbly pitch, that was hard to do.
He’s undoubtedly got talent and this outing, alongside being trusted to start by Philippe Clement, shows that he’s firmly part of the Belgian’s starting plans.
Could perhaps have done with better in the final third but in a new-look attack that featured Fabio Silva and Matondo together, Rangers fans can’t ask for too much from a friendly.
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