How Giovanni van Bronckhorst's tactical approach has snowballed from Borussia Dortmund triumph

Things have snowballed since Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side raced out to a 3-0 lead at the Westfalenstadion against Borussia Dortmund in the play-off round, before going from strength-to-strength throughout the knockout stages.

Fellow Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig fell victim to a relentless approach in the last four, while Braga and Red Star Belgrade were put to the sword in earlier rounds.

Here, the Rangers Review provides a tactical overview of the journey to Seville.

High press in Dortmund

There was perhaps no more fitting tie to kick off the knockout stages than the two-legged affair against Borussia Dortmund. Within it, van Bronckhorst underlined his tactical pragmatism, getting the upper hand in a punch-for-punch bout before shutting the fight down when he gained the advantage.

Rangers were surprisingly aggressive in their approach in the first leg in Dortmund, pressing high in the first half to unsettle the Bundesliga outfit. Van Bronckhorst’s approach was underpinned by the selection of Calvin Bassey in central defence – Leon Balogun and Filip Helander were both absent through injuries – with his recovery pace allowing Rangers to compress the pitch out of possession.

With the ball, Rangers cut through a disorganised Dortmund in attacking transition, scoring four times on nine shots with an xG of just 1.94. A stunning strike from Raphael Guerreiro left the door ajar for the German side in the return leg, but they were handcuffed by an intelligent tactical switch from van Bronckhorst seven days later in Glasgow.

The Light Blues replicated their aggressive approach off the ball in the first half at Ibrox, as highlighted by Rangers’ PPDA – passes per defensive action – chart.

However, Dortmund were more refined in their attacking approach, making a conscious effort to create dynamic movements on the flanks and initiate runners from central midfield.

Donyell Malan’s strike to bring Dortmund to within a goal on aggregate typified the attacking approach from Marco Rose’s side.

Van Bronckhorst counteracted by moving to a wing-back system after the interval. In doing so, Rangers could defend the half-spaces to a greater degree, preventing Dortmund from profiting from those third-man runs down the inside of the full-backs, while the wing-backs of Bassey and James Tavernier could engage their opposite number higher up the pitch.

READ MORE: How chameleon-like Glen Kamara symbolises Rangers' European pragmatism

Rangers regained control of the game, and it was a wing back-to-wing back crossing combination which brought Rangers back on level terms on the night to ultimately seal their progression.

Riding out the Belgrade storm

Luck invariably plays its part along the way and Rangers certainly rode such currency in the victory over Red Star Belgrade.

During a period of the campaign where the Gers were still getting to grips with van Bronckhorst’s demands – the scrappy 2-1 win over Dundee in the league followed the trip to Serbia – the side were spooked by Red Star Belgrade’s direct approach at Ibrox from the outset.

The dangerous Aleksandar Katai had two efforts ruled out for marginal offsides in the opening 25 minutes, while Rangers scored twice from their first two shots at goal going in the opposite direction.

However, it was a game where the men from Govan were, once again, indebted to van Bronckhorst’s tactical acumen.

Although Katai won and subsequently missed a penalty, the Gers were able to stifle his dynamic running beyond the backline by dropping John Lundstram from midfield into the defensive line.

Given the scoreline, Rangers were able to hold the Serbian’s at arms length for the remainder of the game.

Where in the first leg Rangers were grateful to van Bronckhorst’s game management, they were lining up to thank Allan McGregor for a terrific shot-stopping performance in Serbia a week later.

No team this season has created a higher xG tally against Rangers than Red Star Belgrade’s 3.05 in the second leg, which, granted, included an injury time penalty.

Rangers were unable to stem the flow of the Serbian's pressure, but they responded with a well-worked goal in the second half which underlined the merits of Glen Kamara’s repurposed role.

The Finland international had cut a slightly awkward figure in midfield until that point, but his ability to occupy defenders allowed Kent to arrive from deep as opposed to being marshalled on the flanks.

Braga conundrum

Van Bronckhorst has been forced to constantly adapt to challenges in the Europa League as Gers boss, with injuries to both Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe providing a long-lasting headache.

Roofe was out of favour under the Dutchman when news broke that Morelos would play no further part this season, meaning Fashion Sakala was given the nod to lead the line against Braga in Portugal.

READ MORE: From 1993 CSKA tears to Seville fantasy come true: A personal reflection on following Rangers in Europe - Martyn Ramsay

The Zambian struggled with the complexities of the role and was often isolated 1v3 in attacking transition against Braga’s defensive line.

In fact, Sakala recorded just seven receptions on the evening, considerably fewer than Morelos’ average of 20 receptions per 90 minutes across all of his Europa League appearances this season.

A moment shortly into the second half, as Rangers attempted to escape Braga’s pressure, underlined how Sakala was operating on a different wavelength to the rest of his teammates.

But, as ever in this Europa League run, van Bronckhorst was successful in finding a solution.

Strikerless answer

Roofe returned to the starting lineup for the return leg against Braga and netted the decisive goal in extra time, with the game foreshadowing the second leg against RB Leipzig less than a month later.

In both games, Tavernier opened the scoring early in the first half. In both games, the Rangers captain arrived at the back post to steer the ball in.

Yet the most striking aspects of the two-legged victory over RB Leipzig was that it was achieved without a recognised central striker.

Whereas van Bronckhorst opted for Sakala in Braga, he devised a plan where Joe Aribo could use his strength and close control to hold the ball up, while Kamara could push on from his advanced midfield role to form a 4-4-2 in certain moments.

It worked a treat, with Kamara’s hold-up play bearing fruit in the lead up to the opener.

van Bronckhorst’s tactical bravery mirrored the energy of the Ibrox crowd, with Rangers continuing their man-orientated defensive set-up without the ball against RB Leipzig’s dynamic attackers.

It was a gamble, but it nonetheless paid dividends on an emotional evening at Ibrox.

The boldness of Rangers' game plan in the last four encapsulated van Bronckhorst's approach in European games at Ibrox.

However, in a neutral venue at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, Rangers won't have the support of 90 percent of the stadium.

The Gers will need to show several sides to their game against Frankfurt tonight but, having witnessed the team's evolution since that famous evening in Dortmund, you certainly wouldn't put it past them.