Dressed head-to-toe in matching black and holding a similarly-composed posture on the touchline, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Ruud van Nistelrooy’s demeanour proved resemblant of the proceedings last night at Ibrox.

Two managers schooled in Dutch football had briefed their respective squads to the most thorough of ends. Both moved in unison across a sleek surface, trying desperately to exploit opposition gaps while closing any of their own. Neither team deserved to win last night but one will earn Champions League group stage football next week.

Van Nistelrooy had said his team would “go for it” on Monday while van Bronckhorst has attacked every visiting opponent in Europe with a relentless and pulsating press. The inclusion of Steven Davis in yesterday’s 11, his first start on the continent since last November against Sparta Prague, was indicative of a more measured approach which largely showed its merit.

Fittingly, given the game’s even nature, both sides benefitted from mistakes to score. Tom Lawrence’s free-kick from all of 35 yards had no right to go in but did while Ibrahim Sangare opened the scoring after a penalty box stramash.

Meanwhile, Davis and James Tavernier played a step ahead of PSV to carve an opening in the defence and assist Antonio Colak and van Nistelrooy’s men relied on a second set-piece routine to earn Armando Obispo's free header six yards from goal late on.

A 2-2 draw was fair game on the basis of chances and control, but Rangers will rightly rue two corner concessions. PSV did open them up at points but no finish followed. In a game of small margins, the winner is able to take their own breaks and deny the opposition such a privilege. Whether those two moments are lamented next week will depend on the return leg in Eindhoven.

“It’s a little bit negative I guess in the end,” Jon McLaughlin told RangersTV of the dressing room atmosphere post-match.

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“The boss is trying to lift everyone’s spirits because we’ve gone toe-to-toe with a very good team and remain right in this tie. When you’ve got that lead you hope you can see it through. We’re disappointed to concede two set-pieces which stop us going away with a lead.”

Plenty of positives can be drawn out from the 90 minutes. There was no high, aggressive man-marking approach from Rangers. They instead chose to sit off in the middle of the pitch, keeping both centre-backs available to challenge Luuk de Jong in the air and deny clear avenues forward. 

“Obviously you want to start well, but you’re playing against a good team, it’s not like every game we can dictate and do what we want,” van Bronckhorst said post-match.

“You are playing a strong opponent, who has played Champions League football in the last couple of years. They have quality players. For us to think we will have 90 minutes of dominance, it doesn’t work like that.

“You have to pick your moments when you feel like they can be attacked. Those are the moments you have to be sure you’ll score goals. In the moments that are difficult, you have to be compact and make sure they’re not going to score against you. That’s European football.”

Rangers largely carried out their manager's wishes. Remaining hard to penetrate out of possession and picking their own moments to launch attacks.

By the visiting manager’s own admission, PSV found it hard to press in the first half with Borna Barisic, John Lundstram and Davis creating the numbers needed deep in the pitch to move play forward.

It was a bit of a chess game throughout, as one team reacted to the other. At points, the home side did well to manipulate space for Malik Tillman and Lawrence, scoring a well-worked leveller through Colak after probing and prodding at the PSV defence. They capitalised on their own moments of ascendancy to turn a one-goal lead on its head before a dead ball unravelled that good work. Obispo was able to bullet home a header as the hosts' marking scheme became brutally exposed and in a moment, parity was restored and Rangers' upper hand for the second leg had vanished. 

“The differences were small over 90 minutes. It’s about getting the details right, that will also be the difference next week," van Bronckhorst concluded. 

Based on last night, these teams will be hard to separate again in seven days time. Rangers cannot afford to fall on the wrong side of small margins if the Champions League anthem is to ring out at Ibrox again this season.