Rangers have reached the last four of the Europa League for the first time since 2008 and will play the second leg against RB Leipzig later this week.
The club’s European performances have been nothing short of remarkable recently, especially considering just 6 years ago they were playing in the Championship and 5 years ago were dumped out by Progres Niederkorn.
After that embarrassing episode, Steven Gerrard came in as manager and the club has never looked back, so here at Rangers News, we look at the top 5 European performances since 2018.
5. Villarreal 2-2 Rangers, 2018
The club’s first Group Stage game since 2010 was to be a tough one.
After going through all 4 qualifying rounds to reach the 18/19 Group Stage, Rangers were paired against Rapid Vienna, Spartak Moscow, and Villarreal.
The Spaniards were the red-hot favourites to top the group and started strongly with Carlos Bacca lobbing Allan McGregor after only 1 minute.
The men from Ibrox had to dig deep as their rivals created chance after chance and could’ve been a couple more up.
Resilience has been the mantra of Rangers throughout their recent European campaigns, and this was prevalent none more so than in this game as Scott Arfield latched onto a Daniel Candeias cross to force the ball home – his first goal for the club and thus the debut of the infamous ‘salute’ celebration.
The joy was short lived though, as almost a minute after the restart, poor defending from Barisic allowed Gerard Moreno to fire the ‘Yellow Submarine’ into the lead.
Rangers looked to change things up and the introduction of youngster Glenn Middleton proved to pay off as excellent work between him and Barisic down the left-hand side allowed Kyle Lafferty to coolly slot home an equaliser to give the Gers a deserved point in Spain.
The game at Ibrox ended 0-0 with Rangers winning the head-to-head on away goals despite going out.
That achievement seems even more impressive considering where this Villarreal team is now having just won the 2021 Europa League and knocking out Champion’s League favourites Bayern Munich.
4. FC Midtjylland 2-4 Rangers, 2019
Rangers travelled to Denmark for a tricky 3rd round qualifier against the Danish Cup winners knowing that a tough test lay in wait.
The first half was a tight affair that had both teams creating little until Alfredo Morelos (now Rangers record European goal scorer) popped up with a header from a James Tavernier cross to send the away support into delirium.
What followed was 11 minutes madness…
Joe Aribo fired Rangers into a 2-goal lead before a great strike from Nicola Katic made it 3 shortly after.
The joy was to be short lived though, as Midtjylland scored twice in 5 minutes to get the Danes back in the tie.
Thankfully, a goal from Scott Arfield restored the 2-goal led and ensured Rangers left Denmark with 4 away goals and secured qualification with a 3-1 at Ibrox in the return leg.
3. Rangers 2-0 Porto, 2019
This game fully established Alfredo Morelos on the European stage.
A top-drawer performance helped the light blues run out 2-0 winners against the team who became Portuguese champions that season.
The game was a usual Gerrard European performance and was very tight with few chances created until the Colombian fired home a rocket from outside the box after Ryan Jack laid him off.
It got even better for Rangers shortly after as a deflected Steven Davis Strike made it 2-0, leaving the team on the verge of qualifying for European football after Christmas for the first time since 2011.
As well as Morelos, this game helped re establish Rangers on the European scene, proving that they could dance with the best in Europe.
2. Rangers 3-2 Braga, 2020
One of the most memorable European nights at Ibrox, this game was a ‘where we you when this happened?’ moment.
Rangers had done well to progress to the last 32 but the squad was dead on their feet.
After a disastrous run after the winter break, the Premiership title was all but lost with an in-form Braga side coming to Govan and they certainly lived up to expectation, early on at least.
Taking a 2-goal led after 60 minutes, it seemed the tie was all but gone when Palhinha was clean through on goal, but Allan McGregor had other ideas.
Ianis Hagi’s superb strike gave the team some hope before Joe Aribo’s sensational solo goal drew the game level.
As Rangers got a free kick just outside the box, there was an heir of inevitability as Hagi stood over the ball.
His free kick deflected off the ball, flatfooting the Braga goalkeeper as the ball looped over him, causing pandemonium at Ibrox as the comeback was complete.
Rangers still had a job to do in the 2nd leg though, but a Ryan Kent strike ensured the team progressed to the Last 16 where they would eventually be knocked out by Bayer Leverkusen.
1. Borussia Dortmund 2-4 Rangers, 2022
‘Dreamland in Deutschland’ was the cry from BT commentator Rory Hamilton as the 3rd went in, and it certainly was.
A crazy night, and probably the most famous in Rangers recent history that sent the fans into delirium.
Rangers started the game strongly and were awarded a penalty from a corner after a Akanji hand ball and James Tavernier expertly converted.
Shortly after, Alfredo Morelos doubled the lead after a trademark Joe Aribo front post flick before a wicked strike from John Lundstram made it 3-0.
Dortmund got back into the game through Jude Bellingham but any notion that Rangers were going to sit back and hold out for 2 goal lead was quashed quickly when Morelos’ deflected effort went in to restore the 3-goal lead.
Dortmund managed to pull another goal back to give them some hope heading into the 2nd leg, but a 2-2 draw ensured that Rangers progressed into the Last 16 for the 3rd year running.
Can Rangers dare to dream once again and reach the Europa League Final in Seville?
