If Rangers’ record-breaking Champions League exit wasn’t bad enough, looking across the competition at Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt will only compound the club’s misery.
The Gers were beaten by the Bundesliga outfit on penalties in Seville as the club’s monumental run to the Europa League final ended in bitter disappointment.
As a result of losing this game and finishing 2nd in the Scottish Premiership, Rangers had to qualify for the Champions League by navigating qualifiers against Belgian side USG and Dutch club PSV.
But what had been a dream of the Ibrox support for 12 years quickly turned into a nightmare as Rangers became the Group A whipping boys and failed to register a single point.
Culminating in a 3-1 defeat to Ajax this week, Rangers now hold the record for the worst-ever Group Stage performance having registered no points with a goal difference of -20.
Rangers’ Europa League rivals Frankfurt reach Champions League knockouts
Whilst Liverpool and Napoli are also very stiff competition, Rangers fans remain bitterly disappointed by the manher of the club’s defeats.
Conversely, Eintracht Frankfurt supporters are celebrating yet another European W as their side qualifies for the Champions League knockout round.
Having won the Europa League, Eintracht Frankfurt were an automatic Pot One side in this tournament meaning they avoided many of the tournament’s heavy hitters. Rangers were pulled out of Pot Four.
Eintracht Frankfurt were drawn into a competitive group with Tottenham Hotspur, Sporting Lisbon and Marseille and qualification came down to the final group stage game.
After the Germans managed to beat Sporting Lisbon 2-1 in Portugal – and Spurs beat Marseille by the same scoreline in France – both the English outfit and Eintracht Frankfurt progressed out of Group D.
Had Rangers been drawn into this group there is no telling how the club would’ve done but surely the Gers would’ve been more competitive against the likes of Sporting Lisbon and Marseille.
If the defeat in the Europa League Final and the Champions League scoldings weren’t bad enough, Rangers will be left thinking what might’ve been had things gone right that night in Seville.
Meanwhile, the fans of one Celtic legend’s former Euro club have come together to celebrate the Rangers Ultras’ latest anniversary.