It’s a tough start to competitive life at Ibrox for Martin but Kirk Broadfoot insists he simply must deliver a win on Tuesday or the Champions League dream will be as good as over.
22:30, 19 Jul 2025Updated 22:32, 19 Jul 2025
(Image: SNS Group)
Kirk Broadfoot reckons Russell Martin will have to make Scottish football history in his first game as Rangers boss if his side are to keep their Champions League dream alive.
Panathinaikos visit Ibrox on Tuesday night for the first leg of the second qualifying round tie – and they have never lost to a Scottish team in seven previous encounters.
But Broadfoot believes to have any chance of getting through the qualifier Martin’s new-look outfit must hit the ground running and beat Rui Vitoria’s Greeks in Govan ahead of the return leg in Athens eight days later.
Three previous meetings between the teams have ended in draws while Panathinaikos won at Ibrox in 2003. They’ve also dumped Aberdeen in 2007 and Motherwell home and away in 2012.
The winners over the next 10 days will still face two more rounds of qualifying to hit the £40m ‘league phase’ jackpot.
And former Ibrox defender Broadfoot, who was part of the Gers side that drew home and away in the last meeting with Pana in 2008, said: “I think it’s a 50-50 if I’m being honest. Tuesday’s game at Ibrox is going to be massive. If Rangers can come away with a result at Ibrox – maybe a 1-0 or 2-0 win – then I’d fancy them.
“But I think they need to be leading when they go to Athens. If they’re going over there level, I think it’s going to be hard. Especially as it’s going to be a new defence. They’ll have no time to click. The manager has a style he likes to play but will he go with it in Athens?
“Unfortunately the fans don’t care about that. They just want results and they will be judged on this game even though it is really early.”
Martin is adamant his side, which could include up to seven new signings, will be ready for the test that awaits them on Tuesday evening. Broadfoot hopes the former Scotland defender is right.
Rangers players Barry Ferguson (right) with Kirk Broadfoot (Image: PA)
But he also knows the shock that lies in wait for the light blues new boys when they first encounter the wait of expectation on their shoulders. He said: “I think unless you’re Scottish and you know what it’s about.. even then it takes time to adjust.
“Even me being a Rangers fan, signing with Rangers, I didn’t know what was happening with the pressures and how drawing a game was the end of the world.
“I wasn’t used to that. These guys will never feel anything like this at any other club. They need to learn fast that nothing but winning at Rangers counts. It’s the same at Celtic.
“Sometimes guys just can’t adapt and that’s the problem and the pressure that comes with it.
“Unfortunately you don’t get a year to settle in. You’ve got to hit the ground running or they’ll make their mind up and then they’re on you.
“Guys like James Tavernier will be trying to get that through to them. I was lucky when I went. There was big characters like Barry Ferguson and David Weir, then we signed guys like Lee McCulloch and Kris Boyd who I travelled with.
“All these guys helped you along and they brought a good core in. The Scottish boys, Kevin Thompson, Steven Whittaker, Stephen Naismith, who all knew what it was about.
“I was lucky to get into a squad like that. The mentality was second to none.”