Since Rangers returned to European football, minus a shocking first attempt at the Europa League, Ibrox has become one of the toughest grounds for visiting teams.
Against Sparta Prague, the Light Blues faithful once again proved to be inspirational an provided the extra 1% that Philippe Clement had been hoping for ahead of a must win clash.
Rangers, after Steven Gerrard arrived, have qualified for the knockout stages of the Europa League in all but one season with the record at Ibrox particularly impressive, as explained by Scotland’s Coeffficient on X.
Rangers Europa League record makes for impressive reading
The win over Sparta made it a tally of 33 games played, 24 wins, six draws and just three defeats.
Remarkably, only one defeat has come at home in the group stages since 2017 against a Lyon side managed by the scourge of Rangers, Peter Bosz.
He was also in charge when Bayer Leverkusen won.
Slavia Prague, when Rangers had two players sent off, was the only other occasion in which Rangers have been beaten at Ibrox in the Europa League.
The fans obviously play a huge part but there is a lot to be said about approach and mentality.
Under Steven Gerrard, there were plenty of games where it felt like we were hanging on but were disciplined and well organised.
Compare this to the rein of Giovanni van Bronckhorst when it felt like anybody could be beaten at the home of The Famous.
Ibrox is now a place where opposition teams don’t look forward to coming to.
Top sides from Portugal, Germany and now Spain have all been beaten when history shows us that we would normally have struggled.
When draws are made, especially over two legs, nobody wants to pull Rangers out of the hat because anything can happen when one side is formidable at home – the run in 2022 wasn’t a fluke.
And formidable is exactly what Rangers record at Ibrox in the Europa League has become.
