Interim Rangers manager Barry Ferguson knows all too well about going the distance in the Europa League/UEFA Cup.
The former Ibrox captain skippered Rangers to the UEFA Cup Final in Manchester in 2008 but suffered heartbreak in a 2-0 defeat to Zenit St Petersburg.
Now back at the club as interim Rangers manager, Barry Ferguson guided Rangers to a famous 3-1 Europa League victory over Fenerbahce to put one foot in the competition’s quarter final.
Ferguson agrees with Jose Mourinho that the tie anything but over with next week’s second leg at Ibrox to come.
But the Ibrox side’s woeful domestic shortcomings this season will avoid a repeat of the fiasco which had Ferguson slamming the authorities after suffering heartbreak in Manchester.
Rangers and Fenerbahce have weekend breather
Rangers’ disastrous Scottish Cup exit to the hands of Queen’s Park will live long in the memory for all the wrong reasons.
Whilst defeat to the Spiders wasn’t the final nail in Philippe Clement’s Rangers coffin, the historic 1-0 loss certainly put the nail in place for St Mirren to hammer it home.
But as a result of Gers’ shortcomings in the Scottish Cup this season, the Rangers team will have a full week to prepare for the visit of Fenerbahce in Glasgow.
That’s because Rangers do not have a fixture this upcoming weekend, with Fenerbahce also having seven days to lick their wounds and prepare to go again in Scotland.
Barry Ferguson slammed SFA for UEFA Cup Final support
Barry Ferguson has previously let loose on the Scottish authorities for a lack of support when Rangers played Zenit St Petersburg in Manchester.
Former SFA chairman George Peat claims ‘everyone knows’ the rival chairman who worked tirelessly to prevent fixtures being rescheduled after Rangers reached the UEFA Cup showpiece.
Rangers played a quite remarkable 68 competitive games in the 07/08 season and were forced to play four games in ten days including the UEFA Cup Final.
Politicking was at play throughout with Celtic going on to win the Scottish Premier League title on the final day of the season.
Speaking on Open Goal back in 2017, Barry Ferguson said: “I just don’t think the league or whoever was involved helped us.
“We just didn’t feel right, in a cup final you should get the full week to prepare leading up to it.
“I’m not using it as an excuse before people start tweeting but i just don’t think it was fair cause no matter if it’s Rangers or Celtic you surely want your clubs to be successful in Europe for Scottish football’s sake.
“It was a great run and we just fell at the final hurdle.”
Whilst the situation in Scotland back in 2008 certainly sticks in the craw, Rangers will have no such problems should they manage a Europa League run to Bilbao this season.
Having crashed out of the Scottish Cup, Rangers are 16 points behind in the Scottish Premiership and the club’s full focus can go onto the Europa League.
