Sviatchenko says he’d dedicate Midtjylland victory to Celtic supporters
Erik Sviatchenko is keen to deliver a gift to the Celtic support by denying Rangers Europa League football this season.
Sviatchenko’s present side Midtjylland, of Denmark, will meet Rangers in the third qualifying round should Steven Gerrard’s side beat Luxembourg minnows Progres Niederkorn, who infamously put the Ibrox side out of the tournament under Pedro Caixinha in 2017 in the opening round of qualifiers.
Sviatchenko’s final act in a Celtic shirt was to tear his knee ligaments in Trondheim as Celtic played Rosenborg in a Uefa Champions League qualifier. By the time he had regained his fitness Dedryck Boyata had forced his way back into Brendan Rodgers’ plans. As such, there has always been a sense on Sviatchenko’s part that he never got to show his appreciation of the Celtic support.
“It would be an extra plus for me to go with Midtjylland into the group stages of the Europa League having beaten Rangers along the way,” he said.
“I would dedicate that to all the Celtic fans because I am sure that they would enjoy it! I did not have the chance to say my goodbyes to them properly, so I am sure they would happily accept that as my gift.
“But all joking aside, my focus is with my team and getting us into the group stages of the Europa League. That was our ambition at the start of the summer and it is as important to us to get there as it was when I was with Celtic and we wanted to make it into the group stages of the Champions League every season.”
The defender, however, has maintained that the Rangers side he could be gearing up for is one that is far stronger than the one on view when he left Glasgow for his homeland 18 months ago.
“Rangers are a better team now than the Rangers team I left. They have a very good manager in Steven Gerrard but they definitely look stronger all over the park. I still think that there is a gap between them and Celtic but I don’t see it as wide as what it was when I left Glasgow.
“But I have some very good memories of playing at Ibrox; one of the best New Year evenings I had was after we had won 2-1 at Ibrox. I made a mistake that cost us our goal when Kenny Miller scored early on but then in the 87th minute I managed to atone for that with an intervention that made sure we won the game.
“I think they will beat Progres this time and I am excited at going back to Ibrox. It’s a 50-50 tie. At Midtjylland we would not always be used to playing in front of 50,000 people – our stadium holds around 12,000 – but I will be sure to let everyone know what to expect at Ibrox.”