OPINION
Rangers eased past FC Midtjylland in their Europa League qualifier on Thursday.
They won 3-1 on the night, with two goals from Alfredo Morelos sandwiching one from loanee Sheyi Ojo.
Manager Steven Gerrard had warned his side not to take anything for granted after rivals Celtic crashed out of the Champions League earlier in the week.
In reality though, they were unlikely to let a 4-2 lead from the away leg slip and this was more a case of getting the job done at Ibrox.
His side did that in a professional manner – here are the big talking points from the game.
1. Goals galore
Rangers struggled at times for goals last season and it derailed their domestic campaign. Things seem a lot healthier up top this season, with both Morelos and Jermain Defoe sharing the burden.
23-year-old Morelos has scored seven in six Europa qualifiers now, while Defoe has scored five in five games, including a hattrick last Sunday as Rangers demolished Hibernian 6-1.
If both men can carry on scoring like this then Rangers will be set for a much more successful season.
2. Dominating performance
Rangers were expected to beat FC Midtjylland but the manner of their victory at Ibrox will have pleased Gerrard and the fans.
On SofaScore’s Attack Momentum graph below you can see how Rangers dominated after a shaky first part of the game, and the FC Midtjylland consolation goal came out of the blue.
They could have won by more as well, after enjoying 58% possession and 12 shots, 11 of which were on target.
3. Legia Warsaw will be tough opponents
Rangers are the favourites to progress through to the group stages but Legia Warsaw will be no walkovers. They’re particularly strong defensively and the away leg in Poland will be a daunting game in a hostile environment.
Legia haven’t conceded a goal in all six of their Europa qualifiers so far but they did struggle to get past Finnish minnows KuPS in the second qualifying round, drawing 0-0 in the second leg after winning 1-0 at home.
Gerrard’s side should have too much for them but there’s a lot riding on the tie with close to £3m prize money just for qualifying for the group stages. There’s also the issue of the Scottish coefficient after Celtic crashed out of the Champions League. Rangers fans might think otherwise but both clubs getting through to the Europa group stages would be good for Scottish football.