Losing in 2008 was absolute AGONY Defeat to Benfica could spell GLORY
Gers can now enjoy no distractions
THEY’LL still be stinging a bit today.
It hurts to be knocked out of European competition and especially when you’ve got so close to a quarter-final place.
Deep down these Rangers players will feel they could have gone further in this season’s Europa League and that they had more than enough to beat Benfica at Ibrox on Thursday night, having drawn the first leg in Lisbon. So, yes. It stings. But what I would say is that, once the pain wears off, they might look back on this disappointment as the moment they dodged a bullet.
Being honest, Rangers were unlikely to win the competition when the likes of Liverpool and Leverkusen were in yesterday’s draw for the last eight.
Don’t get me wrong. Not for a minute am I suggesting that my old club shouldn’t be aiming for the stars with ambitions to reach another final.
Give Philippe Clement another 12 months and two more transfer windows and then, this time next year, they might very well be in a position to make a serious challenge at that level in the latter stages.
But let’s be realistic because it was only six months ago, when I saw Aberdeen turn Rangers over at Ibrox, that I wouldn’t have put a fiver on them beating Brechin, never mind Benfica.
At that stage in the season I was genuinely worried that Rangers might not be good enough to finish second in the Premiership because the team was in a terrible state.
So to fast forward to March 16 and see them sitting two points clear at the top of the table with a Scottish Cup semifinal to come? There’s not a Rangers fan who wouldn’t have bitten your hand off for that scenario when Clement was appointed.
Also, I have had some personal experience of how draining it is to go the distance in European competition.
Back in 2008 we made it all the way to the UEFA Cup Final in Manchester and that will always go down as one of my proudest achievements in a Rangers shirt.
But it’s also one of the most painful memories of my time at the club – so painful I don’t even like thinking about it 16 years later.
Ask any of the guys from that team and they’ll say the same thing. We had emptied our tank trying to get to that final and, on the night against Zenit St Petersburg, we didn’t have the legs left to put on a proper performance.
But the following week we let the league title slip on the final night of the season when we lost 2-0 at Pittodrie while Celtic were beating Dundee United at Tannadice.
And I can’t even begin to describe the feeling of utter emptiness we felt on that bus down the road. It was agony.
So right now I actually think
Clement and his players may have been spared from going through a similar situation.
They weren’t ready to win the Europa League – but they may have burned themselves out just by trying.
Yes, it hurts. But the rest of the season has just been uncluttered by Thursday night’s defeat. There are no more distractions.
There are now just nine league games left. Hopefully they will add two more in the Scottish Cup.
That means they are 11 games away from a possible domestic Treble and they don’t have to exert any more energy – or risk picking up any more injuries – by continuing to compete in a competition that they were never likely to win in the first place.
Right now the only thing they need to think about is going to Dundee and getting back down the road with another three points.
Yes, the legs will be aching and one or two of them will be struggling to squeeze out another 90 minutes. But, in my head, I’d be looking to run myself into the ground for an hour or so at Dens Park and then let someone else take over from the bench.
Because all that matters is getting out of there with another league win.
After that, the manager will give them some time off during the international break.
With the likes of Todd Cantwell, Kemar Roofe and Rabbi Matondo now back out of the treatment room – and Abdallah Sima not too far away from joining them – the squad is finally starting to look a bit healthier.
Yes, the Europa League was fun while it lasted. But, trust me, nothing gets close to the joy of winning a championship.