Sir Kenny Dalglish insists a Liverpool victory over Rangers in Tuesday’s Champions League clash at Anfield is not a formality.
The Ibrox club are playing in European football’s elite club competition for the first time in 12 years and discovered the harsh reality of their task with a 4-0 loss to Ajax and then a 3-0 loss to Napoli. in Govan, after which boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst claimed that hundreds of millions of pounds would be needed to compete in the tournament.
Liverpool, who bounced back from a 4-1 loss to Napoli in Italy to beat Ajax 2-1 at Anfield, are heavy favorites to inflict another European Championship defeat alongside Govan.
However, the 71-year-old former Kop striker and manager, speaking at a recent McDonald’s Football Fun Program event at Hampden Park, highlighted St Mirren’s shock 2-0 victory over Celtic in the Premiership before the international break, while evaluating the European Light Blues campaign.
“You messed with the big guys,” he said.
“But that doesn’t mean you can’t compete, that doesn’t mean you won’t get a result against them.
“It’s a tough shout, but it’s also a tough shout for Liverpool.
“You know other people have spent a lot of money and been successful, but other people have spent money and not been successful.
“You just have to do your best and make sure that even if you’ve lost, you’ve done your best. There is nothing (that is) a formality. You can always get angry.
“But a lot of things have to go your way. If Scottish football had VAR, I think St Mirren’s second would have been offside. So you need a little luck.
“But the teams that are good get a little bit of good fortune, they all need good fortune along the way to be successful.”
Dalglish doesn’t think Rangers can deny Liverpool with a more combative approach.
The former Celtic striker and manager continued: “Not if you have a foreign referee.
“Look what happened to Rangers in the last Champions League game (James Sands sent off), with a foreign referee (Antonio Mateu Lahoz).
“He refereed it as he would in his own country, Spain.
So you won’t get away with it. It’s not like the old days where he was much more physical.
“Yes, he is competitive but he is not as physical as before. So I don’t think it’s a leveller.”
While the start of Rangers’ Champions League campaign has been punishing, there has been more encouragement for Old Firm rivals Celtic.
Ange Postecoglou’s side were widely praised for their performance against Real Madrid at Parkhead despite ultimately losing 3-0 and arguably should have picked up more than a point in a 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in Poland.
Dalglish, who has also managed Blackburn and Newcastle, believes Postecoglou should stick with their attacking strategy.
He said: “If you are the manager, you can only play the way you know best and that is what he wants to do.
“It has been so successful for him. That’s what got it there in the first place, so why change it?
“Go with what you like and what your players are happy with, unless you can get players to turn around and change the style of play.
“You’re not going to be able to do that. They are set in their own way, they are in control of most of the games.
“Obviously St Mirren, anybody can throw a result like that.
“It’s all to the credit of St Mirren. Celtic have never played as well as they can or have played. They’ve had a great season so far, but that issue gave them a little reminder.”
