Whilst the real action does not return until the visit of Hibs to Ibrox on Thursday, there will be a very welcome sense of normality when Rangers return to the pitch against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday afternoon in a warm-up ahead of the resumption of the Scottish Premiership campaign.

The practice game also heralds the return of Michael Beale to the Rangers dugout for the first time in just over a year when he was a trusted lieutenant under the leadership of Steven Gerrard.

A comfortable 4-2 victory over Ross County was followed by the relative shock of the management team decamping to Aston Villa but now Beale is back as the boss in his own right with a brief sojourn at QPR adding to his experience, in between.

The visitors from the North-Rhine Westphalia region of Germany are no strangers to Ibrox given previous tussles on the European stage. The backdrop to their visit this weekend will be much more relaxed and straightforward compared to the uncharted waters that surrounded their previous encounter in Govan back in March 2020. It was the game that should not have been played with the onset of the Covid pandemic as life as we knew it changed very rapidly in the days, weeks and months that came after that Europa League Round of 16 first-leg tie.

In those hazy times, it would be a further five months before the second leg was played at the BayArena behind closed doors, a low-key 1-0 win for the hosts following a 1-3 victory at Ibrox to secure a deserved progression for the team then led by Dutch coach Peter Bosz.

Here are the three big talking points ahead of the tussle.

Ahead with Alonso

Fast forward two-and-a-half years and much has changed at both clubs, with the Werkself now under the leadership of Xabi Alonso. The highly decorated hero of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich fame cut his teeth in coaching with Real Sociedad B in his native Basque Country ahead of moving through the gears with the job in the Bundesliga. He brings his side to Ibrox just two months after taking over the mantle from Gerardo Seoane (who was recently linked with the Rangers job) in what has been a whirlwind return to the top level of the game for the 41-year-old.

His first game was a welcome 4-0 win over Schalke as part of a run of four wins in 10 across all competitions. Four Bundesliga victories have come with two defeats and a draw in domestic duty as well as one loss and two draws in a competitive Champions League group where they finished third to secure a Europa League Round of 32 meeting with Monaco in the new year.

Talented opponents

Alonso’s side are said to play a fast-paced counter-attacking game with three central defenders and wing-backs. Former Parkhead player Jeremie Frimpong has impressed with his stock rising at Leverkusen, but he has been part of the Dutch camp at the World Cup.

Another of their talents include the on-loan Chelsea attacker Callum Hudson-Odoi who is in the squad for the Rangers test, as is Florian Wirtz who previously dazzled in the east end of Glasgow to devastating effect on Europa League duty last season. Moussa Diaby was a surprise omission from France’s World Cup squad but after a strong start to the season for his club so he will be looking to pick up from where he left off in the final third of the pitch.

Rangers Review: (Image: NQ)

Beale’s back

The result of this friendly game hardly matters in the grand scheme of things, but the tone of the performance will be noted by many watching on, ahead of the big clash with Hibs next week. Michael Beale has stressed the importance of his Rangers team asserting a visible, positive identity on the pitch in their play and after encouraging initial signs on the training pitch, this is the time to set down a marker ahead of a run of very important games.

He will give time to much of the squad, further assessing what he has at his disposal whilst the supporters will be eager to see who has returned from injury in time to get minutes into the legs. Kemar Roofe was pictured in training whilst Connor Goldson and Ben Davies were said to be close. Then there are the young guns, Alex Lowry, Zak Lovelace and Charlie McCann. If they are good enough, they are old enough and Beale won’t be fazed to introduce the best of the youth prospects with a particular onus on Lowry to deliver on his undoubted potential by continuing to progress.

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