Rangers drew with Osijek 1-1 at Ibrox last night in a disappointing result, but it was enough to secure their passage through to the next round of Europa qualifying where they’ll now face Maribor.
And it was enough to secure them a congratulatory tweet from Celtic supporter and BT Sports pundit Chris Sutton.
He posted a message after the final whistle saying “Well done to Rangers and Steven Gerrard” with clapping emojis.
Sutton said that “so far” it meant it was three Scottish teams from three in Europe, with Celtic, Hibs and Rangers all through, but unfortunately Aberdeen couldn’t make it a clean sweep and went down to Burnley in extra time.
.@btsportfootball Well done to Rangers and Steven Gerrard… ??Scottish teams in Europe 3 from 3 so far??? Aberdeen in extra time against Burnley live on BT now??
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) August 2, 2018
An extended run in the Europa League will be one of Gerrard’s key ambitions this season after Pedro Caixinha failed so dismally last season.
But Rangers fans were taken aback by praise from Sutton – normally someone they spend more time fighting on Twitter.
And the Scotland in Europe trope had one Rangers fan saying he was supporting Aberdeen, and even had one Celtic fan admitting to supporting Rangers – just the one mind!
Here are the best reactions from fans to Sutton’s tweet:
Am I dreaming or has Chris Sutton actually given Rangers praise??
— Dave (@dave_n84) August 2, 2018
As a rangers fan I actually want Aberdeen to progress , cue the pellets…
— StuartB (@StuartBain1986) August 2, 2018
Not from me, the days of wanting other scottish teams to get beat in Europe should be long gone, it's a shambles we are having to go through all these qualifiers
— Callum Ewart (@callum2210) August 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/bloyboy1314/status/1025166253902708741
https://twitter.com/ea4962adf797445/status/1025121372094320641
https://twitter.com/meechan45/status/1025124284656693248
Fair play to the teams from Scotland. Fantastic ?
— freddie (@fhoy79) August 2, 2018
OPINION
There might not be many Celtic fans supporting Rangers in Europe and vice versa, but it’s good to see some Scottish unity after a decent showing from the four teams. Aberdeen were unlucky against Burnley after facing the toughest test of the qualifiers, and it’s obviously good for Scottish football if more teams can progress into the competition proper. Scottish teams have to jump through too many hoops to qualify but it’s so far, so good for Rangers. All truces will be off on Sunday though, when Rangers travel to Aberdeen to start the Scottish premiership campaign. And what a game to kick things off. Aberdeen beat Rangers to second place in the league last season and Gerrard will know that a fast start is essential if he wants to take momentum into the league. A victory against Aberdeen away in the first game of the season would leave Rangers looking extremely strong and could put them on a run that would make the rest of the season very interesting.