Rangers are in an elite bracket of clubs still unbeaten in UEFA competition this year, alongside the likes of Bayern Munich and Man City.
The Gers’ 27-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end in disastrous fashion on Wednesday night with an exit from the League Cup at the hands of St Mirren.
A huge opportunity to win a trophy has now gone, but it’s important not to lose sight of just how impressive the opening months of the campaign were.
Rangers have taken massive strides in Europe since Steven Gerrard’s appointment as manager, turning from a team who were knocked out in the first round of qualifying by Progres Niederkorn to a force to be reckoned with.
They won their three qualifying fixtures with relative ease this season, sweeping aside Lincoln Red Imps, Willem II and Galatasaray to progress to the group stages. Since then, it’s also been pretty much plain sailing.
The Gers defeated Standard Liege and Lech Poznan both home and away, while they drew twice with Benfica having held the upper hand for the majority of both contests.
Those results ensure they are one of only eight teams still unbeaten across both the Europa League and the Champions League this season, with their results akin to those achieved by some giants of European football.
All the other unbeaten clubs hail from top five leagues, too, giving further indication of the magnitude of the achievement.
The Light Blues are joined by three Premier League clubs (Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal), two Bundesliga sides (Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim), Villarreal of La Liga and Lazio of Serie A.
It’s a list packed full of quality and clear evidence of the scale of the progression of this team in recent times.
Rangers will fancy themselves to extend their unbeaten run by a further two games and to progress to the Last 16 in the New Year, with their Round of 32 opponents Royal Antwerp in the midst of a woeful run of form.
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