TIME moves quickly in all walks of life, but in football a period of nearly two months can feel like an eternity.

Rangers' 1-1 draw with Young Boys in December, the match that secured the Ibrox club's place in the last 32 of the Europa League, took place around seven weeks ago and in that time a lot has changed for Steven Gerrard's side.

New players have arrived while others have been shipped out. There was the long-awaited win over their rivals at Celtic Park. There have been injuries to key players like James Tavernier and Ryan Jack and, in the last few matches, a few significant stumbles as Rangers look to keep pace with Celtic at the top of the Premiership standings.

The recent wobble in Govan will rightly concern the club's supporters as Rangers' title bid threatens to collapse. There is still plenty to play for, of course, and the race for the Premiership is far from over. But while Gerrard's team have struggled domestically of late, attention will soon turn to European affairs. And Rangers fans will likely raise an eyebrow when it does.

Glasgow Times:

When the draw for the knockout stages of the Europa League was made, Rangers supporters were pretty pleased with the outcome. The competition's big-hitters were avoided and the Ibrox club were paired alongside a mid-table Portuguese outfit in Braga. But, just as circumstances have changed significantly in Scotland since the draw, so too have Braga's fortunes. The results do not make for pleasant reading for Rangers fans.

When the draw took place on 16 December, Braga were ninth in the Liga Nos and had just five wins out of a possible 14 to their name. Now, they are sitting pretty in third place and have added the Portuguese League Cup to their trophy cabinet.

The primary reason for this reversal in fortunes appears to be the change in management at Braga. Ricardo Sa Pinto, the man who led the club into the knockout stages of the Europa League, was dismissed with the club sitting in eighth in the league. Ruben Amorim was appointed as his successor and the upturn in form has been dramatic to say the least.

At the time of writing, Amorim's record reads: played seven, won seven. There was a 7-1 win over Belenenses in his first game in charge, not to mention two wins each over Sporting CP and Porto. A dramatic 2-1 victory over Sporting in the League Cup semi-final, where striker Paulinho scored a last-gasp winner, was followed up with a 1-0 win when the sides met again last Sunday.

But perhaps it is the victories over Porto that have been the most eye-catching. The first occured on league duty at the Estadio Dragao - a venue where Rangers were held to a 1-1 draw - courtesy of a 75th-minute winner from Paulinho, and Amorim followed that up by delivering the fourth piece of major silverware in Braga's 99-year history.

In what has been a recurring theme of Amorim's spell in the Braga dugout, once again a last-ditch goal ensured the win. Ricardo Horta made the most of a deflected shot to slot the ball home in the 95th minute to maintain Amorim's 100 percent record - and inscribe Braga's name on the trophy.

Of the seven games since Amorim was appointed, Braga have scored stoppage-time winners on three occasions. This never-say-die attitude should be a cause for concern for Rangers supporters, given the recent questions over the players' fitness at Ibrox and the fact that when the Ibrox club do concede significant goals, they are generally late on; goals were given away at the death in both fixtures against Young Boys and Liam Boyce's winner for Hearts last month arrived in the 83rd minute. Having said that, Ianis Hagi's 84th-minute winner against Hibs on Wednesday night would suggest that there is progress being made on that front.

The run of fixtures Rangers face between now and the first leg in Portugal appears problematic at best. First off, Gerrard's side make the short trip to Hamilton in the Scottish Cup at the weekend. Then, they face Killie at Rugby Park - a venue that has proven to be inhospitable in recent years - before a home game against a physical Livingston side that will not simply roll over. And, of course, there was the Hibernian match midweek. In the same space of time, Braga play just twice. It should be noted, however, that one of those matches is away to runaway league leaders Benfica, who have won 18 of their 19 Liga Nos games this campaign.

Amorim has got Braga performing back to the level they were operating at last season, and possibly even better. Their results in the group stage of the Europa League proved that they are no pushovers in continental football - they won (including a 1-0 victory over Wolves at Molineux) four and drew their other two fixtures - so the fact that Amorim has raised their level in such a short space of time is a cause for legitimate concern for Rangers supporters. Braga are hitting their stride just as Rangers are stumbling and the Portuguese club's form makes for ominous reading for Gerrard. His side need to get back their best, and quickly: after all, Braga have already done the very same thing.