Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has named Rangers’ first group match of the Europa League was a watershed moment at Ibrox as he predicts the reverse tie against Villarreal.
Having come through the qualifying rounds to make it to the competition proper, the Gers kicked off with a trip to Spain and impressed against their La Liga rivals with a 2-2 draw.
With the Spaniards set to visit Ibrox on Thursday evening, Nicholas claimed that getting a point away from home was a huge moment in the Light Blues’ season and is tipping them to go one better with victory in front of their own fans.
Predicting a 2-1 win for Steven Gerrard and his men, Nicholas wrote in his Sky Sports column: “Their first meeting was a real eye opener for Rangers as it proved to the players that they could play in this competition and match the teams in it.
“Steven Gerrard is searching for his team to set certain standards and they’ve achieved them at certain points, they just need more consistency. But I expect a good week for both Scottish sides and this should be a huge confidence booster for them to win at home.”
Opinion
With so many changes from top to bottom over the summer, including the arrival of Gerrard as manager, no one really knew how this season was going to go for the Gers. A slow start to their domestic campaign signalled there might not have been as much progress as hoped for but the draw over in Spain was massive for the club. As Nicholas said, it would have given the players so much hope and belief in themselves that they are in fact able to compete with their European counterparts, who many would argue were some way ahead of the Gers. Still, their European campaign could still be cut short if they do not put in a top class performance on Thursday and three points would give them a huge boost to qualifying for the knock out stages. That in itself would make this season a success for the club – although you just know they want to knock Celtic off the top of the Premiership table.