Rangers have a job on on Wednesday night as they look to reach the group stage of Champions League for a second successive season.
After a 2-2 draw with PSV at Ibrox last week, Mick Beale’s Gers head to the Netherlands looking for an unlikely win to emerge from their play-off round tie.
They can draw on inspiration from the past though, with the club’s European history being littered with great away days. Here are five of the very best…
5th Borussia Dortmund – Europa League 2021-22 (Won 4-2)
It wasn’t just that Rangers won this. They absolutely shredded Dortmund to pieces at times. James Tavernier’s opener from the spot after Var caught a handball was soon added to when Alfredo Morelos turned home a Joe Aribo flick-on.
John Lundstram then got the second half started with a wonderful sweeping effort from range, and even after Jude Bellingham had pulled one back Rangers kept attacking. Morelos made it 4-1 from another Aribo assist despite an initial offside flag and even another great finish from Raphael Guerreiro wasn’t going to spoil the Gers’ party. It was a counter-attacking masterclass.
4th Fiorentina – Uefa Cup 2007-08 (Drew 0-0, won 4-2 on pens)
Rangers fans thought they’d had a great away trip in the quarter-final when their side had followed a 0-0 home draw against Sporting CP with a 2-0 win on the road, but even better was to come in Florence.
Another goalless home clash against Fiorentina meant Walter Smith’s outfit headed to Tuscany needing to hold their own. It was another nervy encounter but the Gers put in a wonderful shift to force penalties, and then they overcame an early miss by Barrie Ferguson to win after Fabio Liverani and Christian Vieri failed and Nacho Novo slid home the effort which sent them to the final in Manchester.
3rd Leeds United – Champions League 1992-93 (Won 2-1)
In the first iteration of the Champions League there were two knockout rounds before the eight-team group stage, and in the second of the preliminary ties Rangers were drawn against Leeds United, who had edged through after a replay against Stuttgart in their opener.
The ‘Battle of Britain’ was set, and after an Ally McCoist-inspired 2-1 win in the home leg, Rangers repeated the trick at Elland Road. Mark Hateley’s beautiful second-minute hit from distance left John Lukic red faced, then the former England striker delivered a wonderful cross for McCoist to kill the tie. Eric Cantona’s very late consolation was Leeds’ last real action in the Champions League for seven years.
2nd Dynamo Moscow – Cup Winners’ Cup 1971-72 (Won 3-2)
In terms of importance, this is number one. On a technicality, it’s not really an away game since it was Rangers’ crowning moment in the Cup Winners’ Cup final on neutral territory in Barcelona.
They were three up early in the second half when Willie Johnston added his second goal of the match following Colin Stein’s opener, but Dynamo teed up a nervy final few minutes by pulling back a couple of goals. They had been in two finals prior and have been to three more since but having never had another moment like this one.
1st PSV – European Cup 1978-79 (Won 3-2)
Let’s have this as number one, eh? They are after a repeat dose this week, after all. And this was PSV’s very first home defeat in Europe.
A stacked PSV outfit took a first-minute lead but Alex MacDonald, Derek Johnstone and Robert Russell scored as Rangers came from behind twice to send the Scottish champs through and leave the Dutch crowd cursing a side they still regard as enemies to this day.
More of the same on Wednesday?
