Philippe Clement delighted with 'massive achievement' as Rangers reach Europa League last 16

Rangers boss Philippe Clement has spoken of his pride at the team’s “massive achievement” in reaching the last 16 of the Europa League.

The Ibrox side defeated Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1 in their final League Phase game, with Nicolas Raskin and Vaclav Cerny scoring the all-important goals.

That victory, along with results elsewhere, lifted Rangers into the top eight of the league, meaning they bypass the play-off round and go straight into the last 16 of the competition.

Clement said that it had taken effort from the collective as Rangers played through their eight games with numerous players missing through injury, ineligibility and suspension over the course of the campaign.

“It’s a massive achievement for the whole squad,” the manager said. “And it is the squad, not the team.

“It’s not 11 players, or even 14 or 15. The whole squad has been involved.

“You could see that again tonight with Leon King, who had to play at right-back and then had to come off with a serious concussion. We then had Ross McCausland playing there and we’ve had to be very creative in the last couple of months.

“Everybody dug in, did the job and did it brilliantly.”

Rangers finished above the likes of Ajax, Galatasaray, Roma and Porto after eight games and Clement highlighted the calibre of side his team had faced. In addition to defeating USG, Rangers enjoyed wins over Malmo, Nice and FCSB, drew with Tottenham Hotspur and Olympiacos and only lost to Manchester United and Lyon.

“It’s not only about being in this top eight,” Clement said. “Looking at some of the clubs behind us they are massive clubs with really massive budgets, but also the seven other teams above us – we played against four of them.

“So that makes it only bigger.”

With 18 games being played across the continent, and myriad possibilities and permutations, the manager said he had paid no attention to how things were unfolding elsewhere as he urged his side on against USG.

“Totally not,” he said. “I explained to the players this afternoon the system and what could happen today, and I told them we could only do one thing, to go fully for the victory and with as many goals as possible.

“That was our job to do and we focused on that because looking at the other results, in one or two minutes they can score and the results change again. Then you go crazy and you lose focus on yourself.

“I’m disappointed we had a goal against at the end but it’s a massive result against a very physical and direct team who also did brilliantly in this Europa League.

“I’m very proud that with all the circumstances our squad has worked together.”