Rangers’ triumphant run in the Europa League might’ve ended on Thursday night, but with two Champions League places in the bag for Scotland, it certainly wasn’t without victory.
The Ibrox side crashed out to Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen – no shame given they were in the Champions League last season and have one player arguably worth more than the entire Rangers squad.
Rangers will also receive a considerable chunk of money for the run which saw some iconic victories away in Denmark, at home to Legia, in honour of Fernando Ricksen and in front of Gheorghe Hagi.
It was a belter, but Die Werkself was one step too far.
Rangers’ run to the Europa League last 16 – and the club’s truly immense European achievements of the last two seasons – sit at the door of Steven Gerrard, his backroom team and of course the players.
The European performances have been the most startling on-pitch evidence of the progress at Ibrox and the pendulum will now swing to making this impact on home soil.
The microscope is intensely focused on Glasgow back in Scotland and the pressure will only begin to mount this season.
But Gerrard and co deserve more credit for elevating the profile of the game here, securing those much-needed coefficient points, and earning two spaces for the Champions League in 2021/22.
Whilst Celtic also reached the last 32, there is undoubtedly a feeling in Celtic circles that whilst they have dominated domestically, they have massively underachieved in Europe over the last decade.
Something irks about Celtic captain Scott Brown demanding teams around them to do better in Europe whilst he has presided over arguably our Old Firm rivals’ worst ever European spell.
It took Rangers and Steven Gerrard two seasons to achieve what Celtic have not in 16 years.
The last time Celtic went two knockout rounds deep in European competition they played Villareal in the UEFA Cup in 2004.
Rangers last done it in 2011.
Our Old Firm rivals deserve credit for reaching the Champions League Last 16 three times in that period but they have barely stretched their neck out beyond February for two decades.
No-one in Scotland has. Aberdeen haven’t even qualified for a major European tournament since the UEFA Cup in 2008.
Rangers’ performances in Europe have catapulted the nation into the UEFA top 15, dragging a country fast becoming a footballing backwater into the European limelight.
The club’s failure against Progres was quite rightly derided and since then a standard has been set at Ibrox.
The club’s Euro campaigns over the last two years have hauled Scotland up from 26th in 2017/18 to 14th in 2019/20.
It’s a monumental achievement and highlights that Rangers’ demotion – whether you agree with it or not – set Scottish football back nearly a decade.
Here we are, with Rangers’ involvement and success in Europe transforming the game’s standing on the continent in the space of two seasons.
Imagine what we could’ve done with 10.
Celtic – in fairness – have suffered from the pressure of carrying the saltire abroad but have not done enough to push forward in Europe.
Rangers – back on the scene with a bang – deserve incredible credit for hauling Scotland up by its bootstraps and leading the charge for the country’s game on the continent.
