Rangers' Danilo has his say on Cyriel Dessers and his Champions League dream

Danilo heads home to make it 2-0 to Rangers during their win over Livingston at Ibrox on Saturday.

Few have come as close as Danilo to playing in the Champions League without ever doing it. Eight times the Brazilian was named on the Ajax bench on their run to the last 16 two seasons ago and on all eight occasions that was where he stayed.

The Brazilian may have had the number 9 on his back but still found himself down the pecking order behind the likes of Sebastien Haller, Dusan Tadic, Antony and Steven Berghuis.

Now Rangers will attempt to help him fulfil that childhood dream. There is a bit of work to be done first, however. Michael Beale’s side still need to take care of Servette tomorrow night and then, probably, PSV Eindhoven in the playoff before they can start thinking about a second successive group stage appearance. Danilo knows the danger of looking too far ahead but admits the prospect of playing in the Champions League is a desire that fuels him.

“For me it would be a dream and I’m really looking forward to that,” said the striker. “It’s not guaranteed for Rangers to play in the Champions League but we’re going to do our best and hope we can come through. And I would be a really happy boy to be able to go to the Champions League. First we need to look at Servette and maybe another game. We need to take it step by step.”

Much is expected of Danilo after Rangers paid the best part of £6m to recruit him from Feyenoord and he started to repay some of that investment with his first goal in the 4-0 win over Livingston. It was a difficult afternoon at times, with the Ibrox crowd grumbling in discontent as Rangers struggled to get into top gear until the closing stages. As a football fan himself, however, Danilo can empathise with that frustration.

“We play for Rangers so there is a demand for us to play well and try to win every game,” he added. “I can understand as I am a fan myself who watches games. So sometimes I can be angry when someone doesn’t make the pass forward! But there are so many things going on so you just have to try to be focused as much as possible not to make mistakes.”

Danilo’s strike partner, Cyriel Dessers, bore the brunt of the criticism but the Brazilian believes the pair can form a fruitful partnership.

“It’s early in the day and we’re still getting to know each other. We still have to properly click. But he’s a great striker and I’m really glad that we can play together and help each other.”

Danilo is also spending extra hours away from the pitch to learn more about the roaming role Beale wants him to play.

“Sometimes me and Dessers play together and other times I’m more like a winger. I still need to get to know this position a little bit better. I watch some video clips to learn ways where I can improve.”