Here, Rangers and their record vs Spanish teams has been outlined.
Rangers face Athletic Club at Ibrox in the Europa League on Thursday night with qualification to the semi-finals firmly on the line.
The Light Blues finished 8th in the league phase and thus set up a clash against Fenerbahce in the last 16, which they navigated successfully via a tense penalty shootout victory.
Athletic Club now lie in wait at the quarter-final stage and it means Rangers will come up against Spanish opposition for the 29th time in their history.
Last time out in Spain, Rangers played Real Betis in the 2023/24 Europa League group stage and conjured up a famous 3-2 victory at the Estadio Benito Villamarin.
But despite that win, Rangers’ full record against Spanish teams makes for pretty grim reading.
Rangers full record vs Spanish teams
Here is how Rangers have fared against Spanish opposition, dating right back to 1962 and all the way up to the present day:
- Rangers 4-0 Sevilla (European Cup Winners’ Cup – 1962)
- Sevilla 2-0 Rangers (European Cup Winners’ Cup – 1962)
- Rangers 0-1 Real Madrid (European Cup – 1963)
- Real Madrid 6-0 Rangers (European Cup – 1963)
- Rangers 2-0 Real Zaragoza (European Cup Winners’ Cup – 1967)
- Real Zaragoza 2-0 Rangers (European Cup Winners’ Cup – 1967)
- Rangers 4-1 Athletic Bilbao (Inter-Cities Fairs Cup – 1969)
- Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Rangers (Inter-Cities Fairs Cup – 1969)
- Valencia 1-1 Rangers (European Cup Winners’ Cup – 1979)
- Rangers 1-3 Valencia (European Cup Winners’ Cup – 1979)
- Rangers 1-0 Osasuna (UEFA Cup – 1985)
- Osasuna 2-0 Rangers (UEFA Cup – 1985)
- Valencia 2-0 Rangers (Champions League – 1999)
- Rangers 1-2 Valencia (Champions League – 1999)
- Rangers 2-2 Villarreal (Champions League – 2006)
- Villarreal 1-1 Rangers (Champions League – 2006)
- Rangers 1-1 Osasuna (UEFA Cup – 2007)
- Osasuna 1-0 Rangers (UEFA Cup – 2007)
- Rangers 0-0 Barcelona (Champions League – 2007)
- Barcelona 2-0 Rangers (Champions League – 2007)
- Rangers 1-4 Sevilla (Champions League – 2009)
- Sevilla 1-0 Rangers (Champions League – 2009)
- Rangers 1-1 Valencia (Champions League – 2010)
- Valencia 3-0 Rangers (Champions League – 2010)
- Villarreal 2-2 Rangers (Europa League – 2018)
- Rangers 0-0 Villarreal (Europa League – 2018)
- Rangers 1-0 Real Betis (Europa League – 2023)
- Real Betis 2-3 Rangers (Europa League – 2023)
To summarise, Rangers have played Spanish opposition 28 times in their history. They started well enough with three wins from seven but from 1969 onwards, it’s been tough.
Overall, Rangers have just six victories from the games listed above and that doesn’t bode to well for the upcoming Athletic Club double header.
Will Rangers history repeat itself?
Put simply, let’s hope not. Thankfully, Rangers have not played Spanish opposition that often since 2010 and they are actually unbeaten in four against them.
What Barry Ferguson and his coaching staff also have in their favour is that special Ibrox atmosphere on Europa League nights, as witnessed when Fenerbahce were knocked out on penalties.
Ferguson has vowed to make several changes after Rangers lost to Hibs on Saturday, meaning the club are now winless at home in their last five matches.
That has never happened before in the club’s history, so Rangers must do their all to stop the rut this week, albeit against stern opposition in Athletic Club, who sit 4th in La Liga.
