Rangers are preparing to face off against Athletic Club in the Europa League and will need all the help they can get at Ibrox.
With Rangers on a five-game Ibrox losing streak, La Liga outfit Athletic Club are firm favourites to extend that to six in the Europa League first leg at Ibrox.
Barry Ferguson reckons Athletic Club are ‘favourites’ given the Spanish side’s attacking talents and the fact their Estadio de San Mames will host this season’s Final.
But Ernesto Valverde branded Rangers ‘favourites’ ahead of the match before singling out Vaclav Cerny and Cyriel Dessers as major threats.
Rangers know the will be up against it in the Europa League but if Ibrox fans needed any omen, then they need only cast a glance towards Stephen Whittaker.
Stephen Whittaker Sporting Lisbon goal now 17 years old
On this day back in 2008 Stephen Whittaker decided to take on the entire Sporting Lisbon team and score one of the most famous European goals in Rangers history.
It was 17 years ago that Walter Smith and Ally McCoist led a Rangers team to Portugal with Jean-Claude Darcheville and Stephen Whittaker securing a famous 2-0 UEFA Cup victory.
Barry Ferguson was also the captain on the day with this win away in Lisbon one of the most crucial victories in the run to Manchester’s 2008 UEFA Cup Final.
The match is most remembered for Stephen Whittaker’s mazy run and finish, the right-back winning the ball in his own half before running the length of the pitch and scoring.
Rangers could certainly use such a moment when Athletic Club visit Ibrox as the Gers set their sights on the Europa League semi-finals.
Carlos Cuellar has praised Rangers heading into the clash with Athletic Club and the Spanish defender was also part of the team who overcame Sporting Lisbon in 2008’s quarter finals.
Stephen Whittaker reflect on ‘incredible’ Rangers goal
Stephen Whittaker claims that even he was surprised by that stunning solo goal against Sporting Lisbon at the time.
The Rangers defender had come on to shore up a 1-0 lead and was only trying to get the ball as far away from the Gers net as possible before the pitch opened up in front of him.
The former Rangers right-back also revealed that almost everyone he’s spoken to since insists they were hoping he’d pass the ball before finding the back of the net.
“I only came on with 20 minutes to go and we were 1-0 up,” Whittaker said, as quoted by Deadline News.
”Given the home leg was 0-0, Sporting had to score two goals to go through.
“So we were relatively safe and just had to avoid doing anything daft – my job was to shore up the midfield and freshen things up.
“When I stole the ball all I was thinking was: I need to run away from our goal! It was as simple as that, to relieve some pressure.
“But we sprung on the break and the defenders expected me to pass it to Daniel Cousin on my left and it opened up. I threw a couple of dummies in and just kept going, past defenders.
“The moment when I found the corner was incredible, although everyone says to me that they were screaming at the telly: ‘Pass it! Pass it! Oh, he’s scored!’ It was one of those occasions when everything went right.
“To this day, that’s the one goal people tend to talk about when they speak about my five years at Rangers. It was a great memory for me and a fantastic moment for the club. To cap it off with a goal was special and something I’ll never forget.”
