Gerrard receives words of warning from 20-year-old
Vitezslav Jaros, a former protege of Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, has warned him that Slavia Prague are ready to stun his side in the Europa League last-16 tie.
And the young Czech keeper reckons they are better now than the side who dumped Europa League specialists, Sevilla, out of the competition two years ago.
Rangers travel to Prague for Thursday’s first leg, and 20- year- old Jaros believes they will be up against it, even though he holds Gerrard in the highest regard.
He worked with him when the Anfield icon coached the kids at his former club before moving north to become Ibrox manager.
Jaros said: “Steven Gerrard had an aura about him, even when he coached me and the rest of the kids. Everyone knew he was one of the best midfielders in the world.
“He used to take shots at us keepers, and it was obvious he still had it. Wherever he wanted to put the ball, that’s where it went!
“He was ver y approachable, and I spoke to him plenty of times.
“I was impressed with the fact that he would ra t h e r s p e ak to you personally on the pitch than analyse something on video. I liked that.
“What’s interesting is the way he’s got Rangers playing.
“He likes lots of passes and pace when his side attacks, and that’s what he tried to get us to do.
“The style he’s got Rangers has seen them steamroll the Scottish League, and do very well in Europe.
“Rangers are clearly very good at home, too, and have been on an incredible winning streak and have a lot of confidence.
“But so do Slavia. They are the Czech champions and they are about to win it again.
“It will be harder for Slavia though than Sparta Prague, who twice beat Celtic this season, that’s for sure.
“No one expected Slavia Prague to beat Leicester City – except me! I knew they had it in them to defeat them because they are such a good side.
“Two years ago, Slavia reached the quarterfinals and they did it by beating Sevilla.
“In my opinion, this side is far better than that one.
“I think they have a fantastic team. If they beat Rangers then they are in the quarter- finals again, and everything is possible after that.”
Me a n w h i l e, Sl a v i a m i d f i e l d e r, Jakub Hromada, says he and his team- mates were gutted to draw Rangers as they wanted a more glamorous opponent.
He said: “We wanted a big name in the draw, a huge club like M a n c h e s t e r Un i t e d , Arsenal or AC Milan.
“But we don’t want to underestimate the quality of Rangers in any way.”