Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has acknowledged the severity of Rangers’ Europa League task against Bayer Leverkusen in Germany next week – assuming the second leg goes ahead given the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ibrox side forced their way back into the tie when George Edmundson netted a second-half header to reduce the two-goal deficit that had been established by a Kai Havertz penalty and a Charles Aránguiz volley, but a wicked curling effort just two minutes from time from the Leverkusen substitute Leon Bailey dampened any ambitions Rangers might have harboured about a Braga-style reprieve.

“It does feel like a killer,” said Gerrard with regard to the final goal of the night. Aside from anything that unfolded on the pitch, however, the Rangers admitted that he is in the dark as to what may transpire in the coming days. Uefa are to hold crisis talks on Tuesday as it weighs up how to react to the outbreak that has suspended football across Europe this week, with proposals to cancel or postpone both the Champions League and the Europa League on the table.

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Gerrard admitted to briefly fearing whether or not Thursday night’s game would go ahead and while he accepted that next week’s current proposal to play the return leg behind closed doors would be an odd experience he was fully cognisant of the reasons behind the move. “It’s not great,” he said. “No player or manager wants a game, or even to watch an event, behind closed doors. I watched part of the Manchester United game and it didn’t feel right.

“I don’t think anyone wants to see the remainder of both competitions behind closed doors – or see teams pull out. But I’m not going to sit here after a 3-1 defeat and say the tournament should be cancelled. That’s not the right thing to say. I think all I want to say is the important thing is the people, us, protection from these situations.

“This virus is continuing to spread and the first thing has to be people’s health. But I’m hoping that football continues. But first things first. Health first.” In terms of their football health, it has been a schizophrenic season for a Rangers side who have fallen apart domestically since the turn of the year while punching above their weight in the Europa League. Against Bayer Leverkusen, however, they toiled to genuinely trouble a technical team who were composed and unhurried on the ball and who were content to patiently probe for openings. The expectancy now is that the Bundesliga side will have a straightforward passage into the quarter-finals of the tournament, assuming the competition survives Tuesday’s meeting.

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Havertz’s calm penalty in the first-half after VAR was used to penalise Edmundson’s handball was a just return for the possession the visitors had enjoyed. There was a brief flurry of excitement when Edmunson had pulled one back shortly after Aránguiz’s fierce strike, but it was a short reprieve. By the time that Bailey curled in Leverkusen’s third - and was greeted with a glass bottle thrown onto the pitch in celebration - there was a quiet acceptance that a European run which began at the start of July was coming to a close.

It was Gerrard’s first European defeat at Ibrox and while he lamented his side’s deference to Bayer Leverkusen the truth was that the scoreline was an adequate reflection of the gulf in quality between the two teams. “We just showed them too much respect in the first half,” he said. “But, look, where we are is where we are in the Europa League. I can’t criticise the players for the journey they’ve taken us on. We matched Leverkusen for a lot of that game.

“The scoreline is a tough one for us to take, losing 3-1 at home is disappointing. You have to pay respect to opposition, a good time, good style, some real high-class individuals. We had a good shape but we were passive, we were not aggressive enough.”