Jose Mourinho will not want to look back at his first ever competitive visit to Ibrox in a hurry after Rangers defeated Fenerbahce on penalties to secure a quarter-final spot in the Europa League.
Few stadiums the continent over can claim to possess a 100 per cent win rate over one of the most decorated coaches in football history.
But Ibrox can. Sort of.
Mourinho’s Chelsea side were beaten 2-0 by Rangers in a pre-season clash back in 2007. Filip Sebo outshining Andriy Shevchenko in front of a sell-out crowd which, seemingly, had little understanding of the meaning of the word ‘friendly’.
Fifteen years later, Jack Butland was the hero as Rangers ousted Fenerbahce from the Europa League.
Mourinho was livid. He felt Fener were denied a certain penalty as Nico Raskin got away with a risky challenge in extra time. The two-time Champions League winner also saw his ‘dream’ of a sixth European title go up in smoke.
Speaking of dreams, the coach next in line to test Barry Ferguson’s mettle is about to fulfil one of his own lifelong ambitions.
- READ MORE: Rangers Europa League Record Since 2017
Ernesto Valverde to fulfil Rangers dream in Athletic Bilbao clash
Speaking back in 2007, only a few months before Rangers defeated a Chelsea side containing Frank Lampard, Florent Malouda, John Terry and Didier Drogba in a summer meet-up, Ernesto Valverde opened up on one of the lingering regrets he still harboured from his playing days.
Just like Mourinho, Valverde is another highly-experienced coach for whom Ibrox has always been an destination he was unable to tick off his footballing bucket list.
The closest the Athletic Bilbao boss came was in the mid-2000s. Valverde led his Espanyol side to a UEFA Cup final at Hampden Park, defeated by Sevilla outfit containing Dani Alves, Fredric Kanoute and Luis Fabiano.
A decade and a half later, however, Valverde’s long, long wait for an opportunity to sample the sights and the ear-drum-popping sounds of Ibrox is about to come to an end.
Nearly 40 years since he made his debut in European football as a centre-forward with Espanyol. It’s been a while in coming.
Former Barcelona boss suffered heartbreak in previous Glasgow visit
“When I was a player and my team were involved in Europe, I always used to hope the UEFA draw would pair us with Rangers so I could experience playing a competitive match in Scotland,” Valverde told the UEFA website back in 2007 when Espanyol were preparing to face La Liga rivals Sevilla at Hampden.
“I never had a competitive match in Scotland, Ireland, England or Wales, and it got to the extent that I simply decided to go to Scotland on a driving holiday instead!
“So our second chance at a UEFA Cup final, coming at Hampden, a mythical stadium, is an extra pleasure for me.”
Sevilla broke Espanyol’s hearts that day, triumphing in a penalty shoot out. Valverde will be hoping he does not suffer the same fate – and an identical Europa League exit to Jose Mourinho – fifteen years later as he prepares to roll up to Ibrox for the very first time.
An Athletic side containing some of the finest attackers left in the competition – the Williams brothers Inaki and Nico are formidable at their best, while Oihan Sancet is a prolific goalscoring midfielder – will travel to Glasgow for the first-leg on April 10th.
Rangers will then kick off at San Mames seven days later with a last-four spot on the line.
And, while Athletic will be the favourites, Barry Ferguson’s side are clearly in the business of shattering dreams.
