Will the Light Blues take the lead in front of their home crowd?
It has been six weeks since the Gers and FCB met in a friendly match as part of their preseason preparations. The match, which also took place at Glasgow’s Ibrox Stadium, ended in a 2-2 draw. Now the two teams are facing each other again in the UEFA Champions League playoffs. The latest betting providers are leaning towards the Belgians advancing to the Champions League when Glasgow Rangers take on Bruges. The Bet-at-home app, for example, is offering odds of just 1.40 for the Blue and Blacks to win the tie after the first and second legs.
At least at Ibrox Stadium, however, FCB faces a mammoth task. After all, when predicting Glasgow Rangers vs. Bruges, it must be taken into account that the Gers have won all seven of their previous competitive home games against Belgian teams, including a 2-1 home win over the Blue and Blacks dating back to the 1992/93 Champions League group stage. To take into account the 2-2 draw in the friendly, we recommend a combined bet on the double chance 1X with over 1.5 goals, which does not rule out results such as 1-1 or 2-2.
On the one hand, the Light Blues’ strong record against Belgian teams is striking, with ten wins in 13 games, while FC Bruges has remained completely winless in just three encounters with Scottish teams (two draws, one defeat). However, the Blue and Blacks have been shaking up the Champions League quite regularly lately. FCB qualified for the main round in seven of the last nine seasons and even reached the round of 16 last season after successfully navigating the league phase and eliminating Atalanta Bergamo in the knockout stage.
So if you want to play it safe, you can bet on Glasgow Rangers against Bruges at odds of 1.75 that there will be over 2.5 goals in the first leg, which would not rule out an away win for the Belgians, who would then take a big step towards qualifying for the CL main round. For the Gers, on the other hand, it would be only their second successful Champions League qualification in 15 years – and in 2022/23, they suffered six defeats in six games in the group stage…
Glasgow Rangers – Bruges Head-to-head record / H2H record
Head to head: 1 – 1 – 0
So far, the two teams have only crossed paths in the group stage of the 1992/93 UEFA Champions League. Back then, the first leg in Belgium ended in a 1–1 draw, before Glasgow Rangers prevailed 2–1 against Club Brugge on home turf. Curiously, however, the two teams played a friendly match at Ibrox Stadium just six weeks ago at the beginning of July, which ended in a 2–2 draw.
Glasgow Rangers – Bruges Tip
In the first leg, the betting odds from the best bookmakers are already leaning slightly towards the visitors from Belgium, who have won their last four competitive games and most recently eliminated Salzburg with a 4-2 aggregate score. The Light Blues, on the other hand, suffered two painful setbacks under their new coach Russell Martin, failing to get past a draw against Dundee (1-1) and Motherwell (1-1) in their first two games of the national championship, leaving them four points behind city rivals Celtic.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that the Gers have won ten of their 13 European competitive games against Belgian teams, including all seven home games at Ibrox Stadium, where visiting teams traditionally do not have an easy time. There is definitely potential in the team, which is why it certainly makes sense to refrain from betting on FCB setting the course for another Champions League campaign in Scotland.
We therefore recommend the combined bet on the double chance 1X with over 1.5 goals, which we are playing at Merkur Bets at odds of 1.84 with four units.
