THE VITAL ROCK OF EURO REVIVAL
McGregor’s big-match experience is priceless, says Buffel
VILLARREAL...1 RANGERS ........ 1 Champions League Last 16, March 7, 2006
ALLAN McGREGOR was still proving his credentials when Rangers were last in Villarreal. Loaned out to Dunfermline for season 2005/06, and having recently celebrated his 24th birthday, McGregor watched on television as Alex McLeish’s side came painfully close to a place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
His status will obviously be very different this Thursday evening. The Ibrox club’s return to El Madrigal — now officially known as Estadio de la Ceramica — will see the 36-year-old occupy a key leadership role within Steven Gerrard’s squad. There is perhaps no player more important in terms of dealing with such a landmark occasion.
After shining regularly during the qualifying process, McGregor will surely have to do so again if Rangers are to open Group G with a positive result. Yet his influence also extends well beyond those evergreen reactions.
His link to the past is vital. Only Kyle Lafferty, set to start up front in place of the suspended Alfredo Morelos, joins him in having experience of playing for Rangers in group stage continental football. And McGregor has far more of it.
To rewind, he recorded a clean sheet for Dunfermline in a victory over Aberdeen four days after McLeish’s men drew 1-1 in Spain to exit the Champions League last 16 on away goals. Four months further on, he was promoted to be first-choice goalkeeper by new Ibrox manager Paul le Guen. Four successive seasons of high-level European learning followed from there.
That emergence was watched at close quarters by Thomas Buffel. A veteran of the last clash with Villarreal, the former Belgian international views McGregor’s return this summer — after six years away — as a vital foundation stone of the club’s renaissance under Gerrard.
Indeed, he now expects his old colleague to relish being centre stage again when Rangers end their seven-season absence from UEFA competition proper.
‘Allan was a pretty young, promising goalkeeper back in 2006,’ reflected Buffel. ‘After that Champions League season, Ronald Waterreus moved away and Allan was given his chance to step up into the first team.
‘You could see his qualities even as a younger player. He did well in his loan spells and was ready for it.
‘When I saw he was back at Rangers this summer, I was really happy. It was good to see a familiar face in the squad but it is also really important for the club to have players who really identify with Rangers and whose knowledge can take other players along with them.
‘In my time, we had Barry Ferguson and some other Scots. You quickly learn the tradition and values of the club and what is expected.
‘Playing against a team like Villarreal in the Europa League groups will be a new thing for many of the Rangers players. But not for Allan. He knows exactly what to expect and you can see how important he has been.
‘He is 36 now but he will still enjoy the big games. I remember a player who was always a winner when he was on the pitch.
‘There were maybe a few times when he was in a difficult situation away from the actual football when he was younger. But you have to value what people do on the pitch and Allan was someone who never let you down.
‘You could go to war with him and that kind of attitude will be good for Rangers when they go to Spain.’
A repeat of the on-the-night score from 12 years ago would do Gerrard very nicely.
Rangers had drawn 2-2 against Villarreal at Ibrox, but led through Peter Lovenkrands in the return leg before Rodolfo Arruabarrena equalised for the hosts.
A place in the quarter-finals might still have been claimed by McLeish’s side, but Kris Boyd was unable to convert a late chance.
‘It had already been a fantastic campaign for us in the Champions League — first qualifying against Famagusta and then getting the draw we needed against Inter Milan to reach the knockout stage,’ said Buffel, now 37 and still playing with Zulte Waregem in his homeland.
‘We were really confident that we could get past Villarreal as well. Juan Roman Riquelme was just a class footballer and they also had Spanish internationals like Marcos Senna. But we had a plenty of good players as well.
‘Drawing 2-2 at home was a mixed result. We did well to come back into it with the fans behind us but we had obviously conceded away goals.
‘For the second leg, I remember the stadium in Villarreal feeling old-fashioned and very small. But a lot of Rangers fans had followed us there, so it was a good atmosphere.
‘We played well that night. We got in front with Lovenkrands but in the end we weren’t quite good enough to get that place in the quarter-finals. But it was very
close. It felt like a 50-50 tie that just tipped in Villarreal’s favour.’
There is, however, also a warning from that season. For all their excellence in Europe, Rangers were unable to match that form at home and struggled to a third-placed finish. McLeish’s summer replacement by Le Guen had already been announced by the time the squad headed to Villarreal in March 2006.
Balancing continental and domestic football will now pose questions of Gerrard and his revamped squad. Buffel, though, feels the Ibrox manager’s wealth of know-how from Liverpool will be a significant help.
‘It’s only the big names in England or Spain who have the money to field two squads at a similar level, so the problems we had that season happen in a lot of places,’ insisted Buffel.
‘That will be a challenge for Rangers but Steven Gerrard has done a good job already. He has a lot of experience of playing in numerous European campaigns. I think that is very important.
‘He will have learned from the good and bad coaches he had throughout all those years and will have a good idea of how to handle the situation. I’m sure he will succeed in that.
‘What’s great is that this is a nice time to be a Rangers fan again, to see them back at this level in Europe and looking stronger in the Scottish league. It is a place I will never forget. Playing there was one of the best times in my career.’