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BBC pundit was shocked by the image someone sent him during Rangers’ loss to Kiev

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When Hampden Park was so empty for Rangers’ Champions League qualifying match loss to Dynamo Kyiv, Marvin Bartley was taken aback.

On a contentious night at the national football stadium, the Ukrainian team eliminated the Gers from Europe’s top competition.

Thousands of empty seats covered the ground as the already subdued atmosphere was flattened by Jefte’s unjustified yellow card.

On August 14, Bartley expressed his surprise at the low attendance on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard while expressing sympathy for the supporters.

“I didn’t expect to see Hampden the way that it was,” the BBC Scotland pundit remarked. When I received a picture, I was shocked to learn that the game had truly begun.

I never imagined that I would ever see that many empty seats for a Champions League qualifying match in Europe. Whatever the cause—higher costs, for example—that may be, staying away from Ibrox has been shown to be an even bigger issue.

“It’s just not a good look at all if it’s costing fans more money; football is expensive enough as it is.” The game took place in the middle of the week.

Rangers’ renowned atmosphere is lost with the Hampden move.

As the opposing team, you are aware that getting to Ibrox will be difficult and that nothing will be simple.

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Players find it nearly impossible to communicate effectively because of the close proximity of the fans to the pitch and the sometimes deafening noise they create.

With that in mind, Philippe Clement’s team might still be in the Champions League if Dynamo Kyiv had been on their way to Glasgow.

The Gers’ hierarchy made some poor planning decisions, so home games will now be held at Hampden until Ibrox repairs are finished.

With over 51,000 spectators dispersed throughout the stadium on Tuesday, August 13, there was hardly any atmosphere to speak of.

Hampden Park, home of Scottish football

Rangers will begin their home campaign at Hampden Park

You can’t really blame the many supporters who chose not to even show up because of the distance to travel on a weeknight.

This loss only serves to highlight the grave errors made by John Bennett and associates at Ibrox.

Big match verdict: empty seats at Hampden indicate apathy on the part of Rangers fans, and things have just gotten much worse

The city did not experience the Ibrox atmosphere as the Light Blues were eliminated from the Champions League.

a sound barrier. When Dynamo Kyiv last visited Glasgow to play Rangers, that’s what they encountered. The Ibrox punters who were there probably still have it ringing in their ears almost forty years later.

The sound was overwhelming. And generally acknowledged as one of the best stadium atmospheres ever experienced, if not THE best. It’s unbeatable for devotees of a particular vintage. The triumph over RB Leipzig on the way to the Europa League Final two years ago will be cited by the younger generation. Or the legendary victory over Parma in 1999, when big Tony Vidmar had the crowd in stitches.

However, no. When asked about the loudest roar they have ever heard while watching Rangers, many people will cite Dynamo Kyiv on September 30, 1987. That night, there were astonishingly just 44,500 in the ground. The guests, however, were unable to hear themselves think. Neither could Graeme Souness or his team in a thrilling second-leg European Cup match.

The audience contributed in that way. Against all the odds, the Rangers defeated the Dynamo team, winning 2-1 overall. Keep in mind, that team was full of USSR superstars. It was therefore hard to avoid drawing comparisons when they appeared in Glasgow’s south side last night. Here in the main stand stood Alexei Mickhailichenko, who had played for both clubs as well as Dynamo in the past.

But there’s no denying that things have changed. To begin with, the Rangers aren’t actually at Ibrox. Furthermore, the atmosphere of the recollections of ’87 was always going to be in stark contrast. Last night, Hampden was not even half full. Their brief, pre-season jaunt was bound to turn off some fans. Not to mention the customary expenses.

But what was really noticeable was how many seats were empty in the old Celtic end. Does it go beyond that? Is this fan base becoming more and more apathetic? Who can blame them if there is, considering the Ibrox debacle, a lack of transfer funds, a glaringly unbalanced and untalented squad, and an overall lack of clarity regarding the club’s true direction?

And what about last night’s noise? It never came close to matching the volume of Kyiv’s previous visit here. The teams did not make the sound of an aeroplane taking off when they came out of the Hampden tunnel. The muted cheers of the fans were drowned out by Simply the Best. In contrast to 1987, the players were responsible for igniting the crowd rather than the other way around.

There was a quiet hush over Hampden after the opening song from the home end. The players could be heard yelling at one another. Barely a second passed thirty-seven years ago without a clatter of some kind.

Even now, when you see Mark Falco score the first goal by taking advantage of a mistake made by the Kyiv keeper, you’ll get a tingling sensation in the back of your neck. And the roof fell when Ally McCoist met a cross from Trevor Francis at the Copland Road end, tricking and confusing the goalie with his header. Very tingling in the spine.

One more recollection from that Dynamo match is Souness’s fly strategies prior to the ball being kicked. Recall how he told his ground crew to close in the lines and narrow the Ibrox pitch in an effort to neutralise Kyiv’s dangerous wingers?

The way the Rangers used that move to exhaust their opponents was quite effective. Strangely enough, last night the punters were clamouring for Vaclav Cerny, the Czech wide player, to provide them some width. However, the atmosphere was further deflated when Philippe Clement chose to start him on the bench. Gers’ doctors reportedly told the Belgian that there would be too great a risk.

Rangers’ Jefte rues a missed chance

If that’s the case, though, how come Cerny, who had been tearing Motherwell to pieces over the weekend, was fired after just 55 minutes? To the delight of the home support, he was eventually introduced at halftime.

And after Jefte’s absurdly harsh red card, they finally raised their voices and stood up in 53 minutes, expressing their sheer frustration and defiance. They stood up once more after James Tavernier won a corner, and Clement motioned for them to stand up with his arms.

They were definitely needed by their team. However, they were unable to stop Dynamo from scoring twice in the latter stages of the game to send Rangers reeling. The farewell had a significant effect. However, in the clear, their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League have been dashed before the play-off phase.

The mood was set in 1987 when Souness and his team believed they could win the European Cup heading into their match against Kyiv. It was an optimistic support for the Rangers. Now? Simply put, that is untrue. Actually, it’s the exact opposite. The events of this summer at Ibrox have only added to the pessimism of the punters. And the outcome from last night made it much worse.

 

 

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