Club Brugge vs Rangers Preview
UEFA Champions League (UCL) football returns on Wednesday, 27th August 2025. Rangers face Club Brugge in the second leg of the UCL final qualifying round.
The slick Belgian outfit put Rangers to the sword at Ibrox last week, scoring three goals in the opening twenty minutes to stun the home crowd.
Russell Martin’s Gers pulled one goal back, but have an uphill task to qualify for the UCL group stage.
The action starts at 8:00 pm inside the 29,062-capacity Jan Breydel Stadion in Bruges.
Club Brugge Update
Packed with European experience, Club Brugge is a compact passing side with a solid backline and pace upfront.
The 19-time Belgian champions beat Red Bull Salzburg 4-2 on aggregate in the previous UCL qualification round. They’ll be eager to finish off this tie and repeat last season’s progress to the competition’s last 16.
Club Brugge Recent Games
Club Brugge started this season on a high, beating Union Saint-Gilloise to lift the Belgian Super Cup. The side is full of verve after a crushing 3-1 first-leg win over Rangers. Domestically, Brugge sit in fourth place in the Jupiler Pro League after three wins in four games.
Rangers Update
Rangers scraped past Vitoria Plzen and Panathinaikos in earlier UCL qualifying fixtures. But Club Brugge presented a step up. The Light Blues are still smarting from a 3-1 first-leg loss, where Rangers fans booed and left Ibrox early.
Patchy league form of three consecutive draws sees Gers boss Martin under increasing scrutiny, with growing unrest in the squad and unhappy supporters.
A disappointing 1-1 league draw at St Mirren on Sunday showed few signs of improvement. So, Martin is under big pressure to at least salvage some pride in Bruges.
Club Brugge vs Rangers: Previous Matches
These two sides have only met three times before. Before this tie, they played home and away in the 1993-1994 UCL Group A.
19 August 2025: Rangers 1 vs Club Brugge 3
17 March 1993: Rangers 2 vs Club Brugge 1
03 March 1993: Club Brugge 1 vs Rangers 1
Club Brugge vs Rangers: Likely Teams
Club Brugge lineup in a fluid formation with interchanging lines. With plenty of rest from the first leg, they should retain the same lineup.
While Rangers set up with the men upfront, Russell Martin may shake up his first XI; otherwise, their first XI is as follows.
Club Brugge (4-1-2-1-2): Simon Mignolet – Kyriani Sabbe, Jorne Spileers, Brandon Mechele, Joaquin Seys – Raphael Onyedika – Carlos Forbs, Christos Tzolis – Aleksandar Stankovic – Hans Vanaken, Romeo Vermant
Rangers (4-3-3): Jack Butland – Max Aarons, John Souttar, Nasser Djiga, Jayden Meghoma – Nicolas Raskin, Joe Rothwell, Mohamed Diomande – Djeidi Gassama, Danilo, Oliver Antman
Club Brugge vs Rangers Media Coverage
You can catch the action on TNT Sports, with live radio commentary from BBC Radio Scotland.
Club Brugge vs Rangers Predictions
With a two-goal lead, Brugge will start this match under slight pressure.
The first leg produced four goals. However, our first pick is for under 2.5 goals in the match. We can see Brugge playing on cruise control and Rangers struggling to create chances, let alone score goals.
In the Match Result market, we pick the Draw. Since Brugge won’t need to chase the game, yet Rangers will look to stifle the home side and rediscover some pride. So expect a more cagey encounter than the first leg goal fest as the home side retain possession for large spells and ease their way into the main UCL draw.