With a European final in sight, Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst faces a true test of his capabilities

When this Rangers team spun erratically and blew a place in the Champions League, and at least a £30m windfall, against Malmo back in August, who at Ibrox believed that, firstly, Steven Gerrard would leave and be replaced by Giovanni van Bronckhorst and — even more surprisingly — the club would be two games away from a Euro showpiece in Seville?

Change is always essential to growth and the uncertainty of football is what is keeping Rangers’ ambitious players and supporters poised over the next seven days.

The Light Blues deservedly reached the domestic Cup Final, to take place next month against Hearts, after a committed, pulsating show against a Celtic team who strangely reserved their most jaded outing for last Sunday’s tie. And with the Europa League semi-final first leg away to RB Leipzig on Thursday, these are hedonistic days for a team tasked with answering questions of their resourcefulness under examination.

That nervy Gers’ mentality has cost them in Old Firm League games, a League Cup semi-final against Hibernian and in the Champions League this term — quite a sequence of failures, in truth. Yet, as Celtic found out at Hampden, Van Bronckhorst has finally identified an inner recovery mechanism, which could propel Rangers to double cup success.

The manager now has to face handling personnel issues ahead of this demanding week. Influential Kemar Roofe and Aaron Ramsey will miss the first leg against the Bundesliga side and next Sunday’s Premiership showdown against Celtic.

It is unwelcome news for Van Bronckhorst, especially with Rangers embracing all this intensity at home and abroad without Alfredo Morelos. That the Colombian is so crucial to Ibrox ambitions, an opportunity of reaching a Europa League Final against either Eintracht Frankfurt or West Ham United would be a distinct possibility if he were fit. As it is, Rangers must work around their talisman’s absence — a true test of Van Bronckhorst’s ingenuity.

Generally speaking, between him and counterpart, Ange Postecoglou, at Celtic, Van Bronckhorst is the least likely of the managers to risk players in terms of training and selection. In fact, Postecoglou’s predilection for taking chances ended up costing Celts a Treble when they ran out of steam at Hampden.

Thus far, in the Van Bronckhorst Rangers regime, so far, you are never entirely sure what to expect. His outfit can go from labouring, shoddy defending stalemates against Ross County to seeing off Borussia Dortmund and Red Star Belgrade and winning the Scottish Cup semi-final against their ancient rivals.

One thing Rangers must produce in Germany is the same levels of focus, concentration and desire they showed at Hampden and in Europe. Not having won a Scottish Cup since 2009 was a statistic stalking the players in the build-up, and such bite-sized motivations can make the difference.

Rangers can reach a first European Final since 2008 — an objective that, regardless of allegiance, will always enhance the status of the Scottish game. This, in a week where former boss Gerrard stressed that achieving success with an Old Firm side is not as straightforward as it might seem, looking in from the outside. Van Bronckhorst has picked up from Gerrard, but while Euro glory would be quite incredible for all at Ibrox, the season overall hasn’t all been showered in beer and skittles.

And what of RasenBallsport Leipzig, that most artificial club construct of recent years in Germany? Thousands of Rangers fans will descend on the Red Bull Arena full of hope, particularly considering that famous win over Dortmund which hasn’t gone unnoticed in the former east German city.

Ambitious ‘Die Roten Bullen’ — only founded in May 2009, incidentally — have had their own managerial changeover, with Domenico Tedesco replacing Leeds United-bound Jesse Marsch, and are currently third in the Bundesliga. Leipzig, like Rangers, are competing on a couple of cup fronts, as they look ahead to a German Cup Final against Freiburg next month.

On Thursday, the Red Bull Arena is where it’s at.