Go up against Gerrard in a midfield head-to-head?
RANGERS v LIVERPOOL LEGENDS GAVIN BERRY EXCLUSIVE
PATRIK BERGER witnessed a midfield masterclass from the most famous Rangers No.8 on his last trip to Ibrox.
And the Czech legend hopes Steven Gerrard doesn’t have long enough to produce a similar kind of performance when he pulls on No.8 jersey today.
Gerrard was Liverpool’s legendary No.8 and the Rangers boss will run out in the red of his former club in a glamour friendly at Ibrox.
But the 39-year-old former England captain is set for a cameo for the home side with fans desperate for a glimpse of their gaffer in action as a player for the first time since he took over.
Berger knows from recent Legends appearances that his former Anfield team-mate still has plenty of the quality that made him one of the world’s top midfielders at his peak.
And that’s why he would prefer Gerrard’s time on the Rangers side to be limited to give Liverpool the best chance of claiming victory.
A young Berger last appeared in Govan as a sub for Ottmar Hitzfeld’s Borussia Dortmund side when Rangers twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw against the Germans in the 1995 Champions League.
Richard Gough and Ian Ferguson were both on target but it was Gazza, along with an emerging Charlie Miller, sport@dailyrecord.co.uk who were the standouts for Walter Smith’s men.
Gascoigne didn’t enjoy such a memorable return clash after he was sent off although Rangers managed to hold Dortmund to the same scoreline with Brian Laudrup and Gordon Durie scoring on a freezing December night.
The England legend was back at Ibrox for last week’s 5-0 romp over Hamilton and now fans hope to see Gerrard pull on his old No.8 Gers top.
“Steven has already played in one or two Legends games with us because we play at Anfield every March against different opposition. We played Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and he is still competitive.
“He scored the winning goal in the last match against AC Milan and you could see what it meant to him to score in front of the Kop again. The Legends games are fun to be part of and it’s always great to get together with the lads so I’m looking forward to it, especially at a great stadium like Ibrox.
“I played at Ibrox when I was 21 for Borussia Dortmund and it’s so long ago I can barely remember that but it’s a great stadium.
“We had two tough games. Paul Gascoigne – an absolute legend of the English game and an unbelievable footballer – was brilliant at Ibrox.
“But that was a fantastic Borussia Dortmund team and as a young player I was lucky to play alongside legends such as Jurgen Kohler, Matthias Sammer, Andreas Moller and Steffen Freund.
“They had played in Serie A which at that time was the best league in the world so it was a great experience for me to play against such big players.”
Berger moved to Anfield from Dortmund after helping the Czech Republic reach the Euro 96 final where he scored in the defeat to Germany.
A couple of years later he watched a young local lad emerge from the youth ranks and knew instantly he would go to become a Liverpool hero.
Berger probably couldn’t have predicted just how well Gerrard would do but he now expects huge things from him as a manager.
The 45-year-old said: “I’ve been following Rangers because of Steven. I watched him break into the Liverpool first team and we knew even then he was a special player and fantastic lad.
“I also know Gary McAllister very well so I follow what’s happening in Glasgow but not just because Stevie’s the manager – also because Rangers are one of the biggest clubs in Europe.
“It’s fantastic the way Stevie has been given the chance and I predict he’ll be a big manager one day.
“Rangers is a huge job for his first job but he’s a born leader and you could see that from his early days at Liverpool right through to the end of his career.
“Most players have to work their way through to get a managerial job at such a big club but Stevie knew it would be a big job and I think he’ll succeed, especially with Gary next to him who is very experienced.”
Berger has always kept an eye on our game and said: “The Old Firm are huge and historically there has been this debate over whether they should play in the English Premier League because they’re too big for Scotland.
“Rangers and Celtic in my eyes are two of the biggest clubs in Europe, they are fantastic. I always love to come to Scotland and obviously I follow Rangers right now because of Stevie G.”
Once he’s on the pitch as a player Stevie G always gives 100 per cent and wants to win