Source: Team_Talk
Gers boss Smith hails Bougherra
The centre-half netted late in the game to cancel out Pavel Pogrebniak's opener after the Germans had dominated in the first half at the Mercedes Benz Arena in the Champions League Group G opener.
Bougherra may have felt he had amends to make after picking up two foolish bookings for dissent in Saturday's goalless draw at Motherwell, before apologising to the referee for his actions after the game.
But even Smith probably did not expect the French-Algerian to have such an impact tonight as he made his debut in the competition.
"You never know with Madjid," said the Rangers boss.
"I don't think there is any doubt that when he gets forward he can get forward to good purpose and that was an excellent finish.
"You don't see central defenders getting into that kind of position from open play very often. He likes to get himself forward and sometimes you don't get a great deal from him but it was nice to see him getting into that position.
"It was an excellent finish and one that any forward would have been proud of. We had a number of opportunities in the second half of the game. Steven Davis and Steven Naismith had opportunities and Sasa Papac had a header."
Rangers were a far more composed side after the interval and created their best chances in the second half but Smith denied there were any harsh words from him in the dressing room at half-time.
"I didn't think that was necessary," he said.
"Being Scottish, everybody expects you to come away and win games without any problem. We were always going to have to have a period of the game where Stuttgart were going to be in the ascendancy.
"Anyone who thinks we can come away from home and not be under any pressure are deluding themselves."
He added: "We are pleased with the result. I felt we started slowly and Stuttgart were the better side in the early part of the game.
"I was disappointed with the goal we lost, it was a bad one from our own point of view. It was an unfortunate slip from Sasa Papac and one we might have cleared easily beforehand. We were disappointed to go down in that manner but certainly in the early part of the game Stuttgart were very bright and possibly deserved their lead.
"Closer to half-time we started to come into the game a little bit and then in the second half I felt we played very well.
"We scored one and hit the post and in the end we were a little unfortunate not to shade the game with what was an excellent second-half performance."
Next up for Rangers is Sevilla at Ibrox later this month, with the Spaniards topping Group G after their 2-0 win over Romanian champions Unirea Urziceni.
Smith said: "When you come away from home in your first game it's important to try to take something and I felt we deserved that tonight.
"It's a good group overall. Seville will be favourites because of their European pedigree. It will be a good game in a couple of weeks time as well."
Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel would have been less satisfied than Smith with the result but admits Rangers could even have taken all three points.
He said: "In the first half we were very good and we were confident and played well. We scored a goal and we could have made it 2-0.
"Then in the second half we didn't go in hard enough in the one-on-ones and conceded a goal. We came into the game again after that.
"But the game could have gone either way and Rangers could even have snatched it."
However, he sees no reason why Stuttgart cannot leave Glasgow with all three points when the two teams meet again.
He added: "Of course. We haven't lost this game and a draw is better than nothing. We know it will be very difficult in Glasgow especially with the supporters but we can beat Rangers at home. Anything is possible and we showed in the first half tonight that we are a very good team."
