Following a trophyless 2022-23 campaign and having to watch their bitter rivals Celtic win the domestic treble, Rangers have since registered one win, one draw and one defeat in their opening three pre-season matches.
A goalless draw with Livingston in their first friendly fixture was followed by a 2-0 victory in Germany against Hallescher, but they came up short on home soil against Newcastle United on Tuesday as they lost 2-1 in Allan McGregor’s testimonial.
A first-half strike from Miguel Almiron was cancelled out by summer signing Sam Lammers just after the hour mark, but the Magpies had the last laugh as a looping header from substitute Harrison Ashby sealed the victory for the visitors three minutes from time.
Michael Beale’s side were second best for large spells against their Premier League opponents, but the Gers boss – who is preparing for his first full season in charge after replacing Giovanni van Bronckhorst last November.
will not be too concerned at this early stage, with three more friendlies against Hamburger, Olympiacos and Hoffenheim still to come to build positive momentum ahead of the new campaign.
Like Rangers, Hamburger have also won one, drawn one and lost one of their first three pre-season games this summer, a month on from losing the Bundesliga relegation playoff to Stuttgart.
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A 3-2 victory over German minnows Verden 04 was followed by an eventful 3-3 draw with Viktoria Plzen, but they head to Glasgow after suffering a disappointing 4-1 loss to Red Bull Salzburg last weekend.
Die Rothosen found themselves three goals down inside the opening 23 minutes against Salzburg before new recruit Immanuel Pherai pulled one back on the half-hour mark. The visitors restored their three-goal cushion 10 minutes into the second half, though, courtesy of a strike from Nene Dorgeles.
Nevertheless, the result is of little importance to head coach Tim Walter, who is instead focused on the “overall construction” of his side as they endeavour to get themselves in the best possible shape to start their sixth successive season in the German second tier.
