BRONDBY SET THE BENCHMARK

My first club still means so much to me and my family ... but I’m tipping a fully fired-up Rangers side to win in Denmark

WHEN Rangers face Brondby on Thursday, they are taking on a club that has played a huge part in the history of Danish football.

Brondby are also a team that hold a very special place in the hearts of the Laudrup family.

Back in the day, my dad Finn played for them and went on to become their player-coach. My brother Michael played for Brondby at the start of a fantastic career that saw him star for Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid, and he later returned to manage them.

I played for Brondby from the age of six and my uncle, Ebbe Skovdahl, who later took charge of Aberdeen, was my first manager in professional football.

It was tough having your uncle for a manager because he knew other players would look at how he handled me. Sometimes you could feel the pressure was on you rather than on other players.

But Ebbe was very fair and he was a very big influence on my career. He was also a very good coach. He implemented the pressing game that you see all over the football world nowadays.

Ebbe brought that to Brondby back in 1986-87, which was also the year they became the first club in Denmark to go full-time.

Nowadays, all teams in the Superliga are fully professional but, at the time, it was a huge thing in Denmark. Brondby set a benchmark.

In 1991, they reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup and were narrowly beaten over two legs by Roma.

And when Denmark beat Germany 2-0 in the final of Euro 92, we had seven former Brondby players in our first XI: Peter Schmeichel, Lars Olsen, Kent Nielsen, John Jensen, Kim Christofte, Kim Vilfort and myself.

That shows you the importance of Brondby to Danish football.

To me, Brondby was the place where I spent my formative years in the game.

That experience definitely set me up for everything that followed in a career that took me to Germany, Italy, Scotland, England and Holland.

Before Brondby turned full-time, Danish players heading abroad were amateurs. But the two-anda-half-years I spent as a full-time professional at Brondby from the age of 18 to 20 allowed me to handle all the training you did abroad when I moved to Bayer Uerdingen in 1989.

Also, at Brondby, we were used to people expecting us to win trophies.

We won two championships and a cup before I left for Germany.

You could compare those demands to the pressure that I played under at some of the big clubs I played for in Europe including Rangers.

Yet my relationship with Brondby changed when I returned to sign for FC Copenhagen after leaving Chelsea in 1998.

When I left Denmark, the rivalry was between Brondby and KB but then KB was turned into FC Copenhagen and, over the years, it became a new ‘Old Firm’, if you can call it that.

It’s the biggest rivalry and biggest derby in Danish football.

The teams are only 25km away and the crowds can now be 25,000 for games, whereas there were only up to 8,000 fans at matches when I played for Brondby.

People didn’t like it when I came back and joined FC Copenhagen because I was a Brondby kid.

Back then, I didn’t have the best relationship with Brondby. It turned a little sour for a while. I was booed and I was not the most popular guy. These days, things are fine, though. There are no problems at all now.

Do I regret signing for FC Copenhagen? It’s easy to look back in hindsight and say I should have done this or that but, at the time, it felt like the right decision.

Brondby were a more settled club when I went back to Denmark. FC Copenhagen had a new manager and he was sacked after three games and it was all a bit chaotic. That’s why I went to Ajax the following season.

I’ll be watching the Brondby v Rangers Europa League game on Thursday night and I expect a cracking match.

I know Brondby did not look that good when they lost 2-0 at Ibrox last month. Since then, they’ve beaten FC Copenhagen and they won 1-0 on Sunday at Viborg to make it six points from two games.

It was a surprise to people that Brondby won the title last season and they have struggled a little at times this season.

But they are slowly getting into motion and they will be a different prospect to the side we saw in Glasgow.

It’s going to be a tough test for Rangers. The atmosphere at Brondby Stadium is incredible. In some respects, it reminds me of Ibrox. It’s a challenge that I think Rangers, with the quality they have, can overcome.

We all saw what they did against Motherwell on Sunday. If they can reproduce that kind of form, it will be tough for Brondby, no doubt.

That 6-1 win at Fir Park can be a springboard for the season for Rangers.

It can also be a statement, a warning. All those phrases.

Steven Gerrard said his team’s performance was an inch away from being perfect.

But I think the management team of Rangers will be honest and say it’s not the away form that’s been a concern.

It’s how they have been doing at home. There have been too many drawn games and narrow victories.

It was great to see Fashion Sakala score a first hat-trick for the club on Sunday. His goals speak for themselves.

He scored the first with a header, for the second, he cut inside and shot, and for the third, he used his pace to run in behind the Motherwell defence.

He scores different types of goals and that sets him apart.

Alfredo Morelos is coming back to some sort of form but it’s going to be very hard to keep Sakala out of the team going forward.

It’s the perfect time for Sakala to announce himself as a Rangers player and also to push Morelos and get the team going.

It was a fantastic performance by Sakala and, hopefully, he can continue it because, sometimes, one player can change things and drag a team forward with him.

Yes, Rangers have had their critics this season but, after 12 games, they are four points clear at the top of the table. That’s not a bad place to be.

And Rangers are getting results right now.

Celtic had a big chance on Saturday to go top of the table and put on a lot of pressure — but they couldn’t do it.

Now, Rangers are clear at the top. And I think with players coming into form, and new guys like Sakala settling in very well, you would be foolish to think that Rangers can’t keep getting better.

Their home form most definitely needs to improve, though.

Back then, I didn’t have the best relationship with them. It turned a little sour. I was booed