Rangers shocked themselves as well as the continent when they went to Turkey and beat Fenerbahce on their own patch.
Not many teams take on Super Lig outfits away from home and emerge victorious, especially not ones who are performing as poorly domestically as Barry Ferguson’s men.
The Rangers manager sprang a surprise to bamboozle Jose Mourinho with a tactical masterclass, however, the Portuguese legend is known for the spectacular.
Mourinho gave an honest appraisal of the first-leg, accepting that his side had been well beaten, but he also issued a thinly veiled warning that his expensively assembled squad isn’t out of things just yet.
The last time Fenerbahce came to Ibrox was in 2001 in the first leg of the third qualification round of the Champions League with Rangers having one or two big money signings of their own.
When Rangers last faced Fenerbahce at Ibrox
It was a season that would end with Alex McLeish in charge with Dick Advocaat overseeing an exit from the continent’s elite level tournament.
The tournament that he had been brought in to take Rangers to the next level in, ironically, it was his successor who, to this day, has still outperformed his peers.
The line-up on the day was a strange one from Advocaat with six defenders named and only one natural central midfielder.
No wonder it finished goalless.
Despite the money that had been spent, Advocaat wasn’t afraid to play Rangers academy players with three lining up on this occasion.
What was the Rangers team picked to face Fenerbahce?
The big money signings were; Tore Andre Flo, Arthur Numan, Bert Konterman and Fernando Ricksen, with the rest a mix of academy players, domestic signings and cheap Bosmans.
Value for money has never been Rangers’ strong point when it comes to spending big.
Ferguson could well field a team that cost less than the £12m paid for Flo to face Fenerbahce for a place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
It was a similar story in 2022 when the Rangers team that started the final was built for under £15m with Ryan Kent at £7m the vast majority of the outlay.
| Player | Fee |
| Stefan Klos | £750,000 |
| Tony Vidmar | Bosman |
| Arthur Numan | £4.5m |
| Craig Moore | Academy |
| Scott Wilson | Academy |
| Bert Konterman | £4.5m |
| Fernando Ricksen | £3.5m |
| Stephen Hughes | Academy |
| Neil McCann | £1.9m |
| Tore Andre Flo | £12m |
| Claudio Caniggia | Bosman |
Mohamed Diomande at £4.3m has looked more like a player who could go to the level that Philippe Clement predicted recently with Cyriel Dessers’ £4.5m fee looking more acceptable as his numbers continue to grow.
Only Ridvan Yilmaz’s £5m deal out of the class of 2025 can really have his transfer fee questioned given how much time he has spent on the treatment table.
There might not be as many stars or household names in Ferguson’s team, however, if they can secure the same result as the 2001 vintage, they will have gone one better and put the Turks to the sword.
