Derek McInnes: The financial benefits of Champions League qualification were huge for Rangers – Malmo loss is a blow

Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side won 4-2 on aggregate and progressed to a play-off against Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria while their defeated opponents drop into the Europa League and will now play either Kairat of Kazakhstan or Alashkert of Armenia. 

The ex-Aberdeen manager had little sympathy for his old club given their failure to close down Croatian striker Colak at both of his strikes.

And he admitted that missing out on a multi-million pound payday by securing a place among the coninent’s elite in the competition proper was a big blow to Rangers.  

“In the first half the intensity show was everything Gerrard was looking for,” he said on Premier Sports. “But they lost the initiative. You need two decent performances to go through in Europe but they only played for 45 minutes.

“The half-time team talk would have been about staying patient and breaking down 10 men. But they let Malmo breathe. They let them play with the ball.

“We’ve all seen games against 10 men. It only takes one or two to knock off and neglect their defensive duties and that’s what happened.

“We can talk about the deficiencies in their attacking play but the two goals they lost were so poor. At this level you get punished. Malmo showed outstanding spirit – but Rangers gifted them the initiative.

McInnes added: “The significance of going through was huge, not only the prestige, but the financial benefits of Champions League football. It’s a huge disappointment but they need to get ready for Friday night. 

“They’ll be disappointed not to have performed to the levels they are capable of. If they were anywhere near last year they would have seen off Malmo. Steven will be scratching his head.

“It will be difficult for Steven now to get the balance between giving them the rocket they need to get their season going, but also that support for boys who have done so well for them.

“The Europa League was a great success for Rangers last season and that will now be their focus. But he’ll be reminding his players of their focus because they are good players.

“Every manager likes to freshen up your team. But the squad is here to be successful. They showed it last season but this is a blow. They can recover from it though, whether that’s with new recruits or the answer is in the dressing room.”