Rangers boss Steven Gerrard had told his team to “dream” of Europa League glory in comments which will be music to the ears of Rangers fans.
The Ibrox gaffer has already cemented himself into Rangers history by securing the club’s 55th league title and first in a decade, altering the course of Rangers’ history and putting us back where we belong.
It is a feat which will echo through Ibrox for the generations to come and for this alone Gerrard will forever be heralded as a hero of Rangers.
But if the Liverpool legend could also secure a European trophy for the club this would immortalise him even further as he seeks to go where several Rangers managers before him have agonisingly failed.
Speaking about this year’s competition – with Rangers’ last 16 Europa League clash with Slavia Prague neatly poised at 1-1 – Gerrard believes there is nothing wrong with dreaming.
“100 per cent we’ll dream,” said Gerrard [Sky Sports].
“We’ve been dreaming since we qualified. There’s no harm in dreaming.
“But at the same time you’ve got to have respect for the opposition
“You’ve got to realise the challenge and what’s coming up against you.
“This is a side who have gone away to a Premier League team and won comfortably, so in no way can we get carried away.
“It’s always nice to dream but we probably have to find our biggest performance of the season at Ibrox to get this done.”
Rangers have one European prize in the Ibrox trophy cabinet – the Cup Winner’s Cup of 1972 – but have played in four major European Finals in the club’s history.
The most recent of these came in 2008 when Walter Smith guided his defiant Ibrox side to the UEFA Cup Final in Manchester but fell at the final hurdle to Zenit St. Petersburg.
There’s still a long way to go to get to Gdansk in this year’s Final – and some stiff competition ahead of the club too – but Rangers will certainly continue to dream so long as they’re in the tournament.
Gerrard isn’t the only one daring to think big at Ibrox either.
Much-lauded Gers coach Michael Beale also retweeted a special BT Sport video which praised the Gers for their title triumph but cast the eye on to the Europa League.
https://twitter.com/MichaelBeale/status/1370393935345025027
In the stirring video, the narrator claims “we’re not at journey’s end”, talking up a potential trip to Poland for the Final.
The fact Beale has retweeted it shows there’s a growing belief – or at the very least desire – that Rangers can make an impression in this competition and go toe-to-toe with anyone.
Rangers fans lauded that BT Sport video on its release as it got their blood pumping before the eventual 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague.
