By David Herd
This Thursday, a woefully poor Rangers in domestic football look to add another impressive European result to their bipolar season. A sell-out Ibrox will welcome the Spanish outfit Athletic Bilbao, the club who will host the Europa League final this year at their Estadio de San Mames. The visitors sit fourth in La Liga, with only the “big three” of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid above them, with Champions League football looking a distinct possibility for them next season. They are favourites with some bookmakers for the Europa League this season, and represent a massive challenge to a Rangers side who currently are in the worst run of home results in history. A home win would be something of a surprise going by form, but this Rangers team like to spring a shock on Thursday nights. It is the thirteenth time Rangers have reached the last eight knockout stage of a major European competition. Recent results might not back it up, but history suggests that defeat is unlikely, with it being almost 65 years since a visiting team left Ibrox with a win in a continental quarter-final. Here’s a look back at all twelve occasions when Rangers were just two rounds away from a final.
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1959/60 EUROPEAN CUP RANGERS 0 SPARTA ROTTERDAM 1
Back in the late 1950s, there was just the one European competition, the European Cup, and only national champions took part in it. Scot Symon’s Rangers had defeated Dutch title-winners Sparta Rotterdam 3-2 in the first leg, and most of the 82,000 who packed into Ibrox felt that the tie was virtually over.
Rangers were without Bobby Shearer and Ian McMillan, but with legendary names like Eric Caldow, Harold Davis, Jimmy Millar, Ralph Brand and Davie Wilson in the line-up, a comfortable home win was widely predicted. But they struggled against a Dutch team who packed their defence and looked to strike on the break. Chances were created, though, but the Rangers forward line had a rare collective off night. The closest to getting the goal that would surely have killed the tie came in the second half, when inside forward Sammy Baird smashed a shot against the crossbar. But as the match headed towards the end, the Rangers players and the massive Ibrox crowd started to get increasingly frustrated and increasingly nervy. And the sucker punch they feared duly arrived with just fifteen minutes left. Winger van Ede took possession, ran at the home defence, played a clever one-two then sent a clinical shot past Billy Ritchie.
It was the only goal on the night, and in those early years of European competition there was no away goals or penalty shootouts to separate teams level on aggregate. It meant a play-off game was required, with the teams meeting again at Arsenal’s Highbury Stadium a fortnight later. Baird scored twice, and centre forward Millar grabbed another, as Rangers finally reached the semi-final with a 3-2 victory in front of just under 35,000 fans.
The 1-0 defeat at Ibrox in the second leg remains to this day the only knockout European quarter-final match Rangers have ever lost at Ibrox. Rangers lost heavily in the semi-final to German cracks Eintracht Frankfurt, who in turn were thrashed in a legendary Hampden final by the mighty Real Madrid.
1960/61 EUROPEAN CUP-WINNERS’ CUP RANGERS 8 BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH 0
The first-ever European Cup-Winners’ Cup attracted just ten teams, with six of them going straight into the quarter-finals. Rangers were one of the four others who had to navigate a first round, which they won by narrowly beating Hungarian team Ferencvaros. The last eight draw paired them with German cup winners Borussia Monchengladbach, who were one of the less well-known teams from the country at that time. The first leg in West Germany was attended by a sizeable number of servicemen stationed in the country, and they witness Rangers cruising to a 3-0 win in a match littered with bad tackles and feuds. The home team resorted to blatant kicking and pulling against a far superior opponent, with the great Harold Davis resolving one dispute in no-nonsense fashion with a German left lying in a heap on the turf.
The Rangers players did not appreciate the treatment they got, and they decided to show no mercy in the return match at Ibrox. Legend has it that Davis stayed behind after training to stand on the Ibrox touchline when the visitors held their own training session in the stadium on the eve of the game, his presence a reminder of the justice to be meted out should similar dirty tricks be considered again. By full-time in the game itself, the Germans might have wished they had opted to go down fighting. Just under 40,000 spectators witnessed as one-sided a hammering as anyone could ever imagine at this stage in a European competition.
Borussia concentrated this time on football, but they simply were not in the same class as their hosts. The 8-0 final score remained the biggest win Rangers enjoyed in any European match for over 20 years, finally overtaken by the 10-0 win over the hapless Valetta of Malta in 1983. And it all started with a goal after just two minutes scored by summer signing Jim Baxter, the iconic playmaker’s first competitive goal at Ibrox for the club. By half-time it was 5-0, with Ralph Brand scoring twice with winger Alex Scott and centre forward Jimmy Millar also on the scoresheet. The second half saw three more goals in the first 20 minutes, Brand competing the first-ever Rangers hat-trick in Europe, Millar getting his second, and number eight scored by Davis. Maybe the team then decided they had tortured Borussia enough, as goalkeeper Jansen went unbeaten for the last 25 minutes.
Rangers coasted through 11-0 over the two games, and reached the final after a famous semi-final win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. Fiorentina of Italy would then deny them the glory of lifting the first Cup-Winners’ Cup, as they won the two-legged final 4-1 on aggregate.
1961/62 EUROPEAN CUP RANGERS 2 STANDARD LIEGE 0
Rangers fell at the final hurdle in Europe the previous season, but they did win back the league title, meaning a return to the continent’s premier tournament. And they cruised into the last eight with home and away wins over French and East German opposition. The quarter-final draw saw them given what appeared to be a favourable draw, against the unfancied Standard Liege. But a nightmare ten-minute spell in Belgium in the first leg saw their hopes of progression hang by a thread. The score was 1-1 a minute before half-time, but by the 54th minute the Belgians were 4-1 ahead. That remained the scoreline at the final whistle, leaving Rangers a mountain to climb.
The first leg had seen a youngster named John Greig make his European debut in royal blue, filling in at inside right for the injured Ian McMillan. But the experienced old head was back in his familiar number 8 shirt for the return match, with almost 77,000 flocking to the stadium convinced their team could still do it. The massive crowd meant severe traffic problems, which prevented teenage sensation Willie Henderson reaching Ibrox in time to be named in the side. He was sorely missed, on a night when the scoreline hides the fact that the three-goal deficit never looked like being closed.
A Brand goal in the first half lifted the atmosphere and gave hope of a great comeback, but Rangers were lacking in inspiration against a well-drilled and resolute Liege defence. Eric Caldow converted a last-minute penalty to further reduce the deficit, but there was no time for another meaningful attack let alone a third goal. It was third time unlucky for Rangers in European quarter-finals, a first time that they suffered an exit at this stage.
1964/65 EUROPEAN CUP RANGERS 1 INTER MILAN 0
1964/65 was a season where the break-up of the iconic early 1960s Rangers side started to accelerate. Domestically, the team stumbled badly despite lifting the League Cup, with Scot Symon’s team finishing fifth in the league championship. But they played well in Europe, defeating both Red Star Belgrade and Rapid Vienna. But the win in Austria was marred by the broken leg suffered by the talismanic Jim Baxter, an injury that ruled him out for several months. He was still on the sidelines when European Cup holders Inter Milan won the first leg in Italy by 3-1. And the very different Roger Hynd was given Baxter’s old number 6 shirt for the return at Ibrox, the first time the stadium had hosted a match between Rangers and the champions of Europe.
Just under 80,000 were there to see a titanic battle. Rangers, in an all-white strip, were very unlucky not to get the two goals they needed to level the tie. The prolific Jim Forrest had given the huge crowd the start they craved, scoring in the opening minutes with a superb strike. The young striker would go on to break the club record for competitive goals in a single season, but he couldn’t find a second goal on the night to keep his team in the cup. The closest Rangers came was a George McLean shot that hit the crossbar with goalkeeper Sarti beaten.
Inter celebrated hearing the final whistle as if they had won the final itself, and they went on to do just that. They retained the trophy in May, by defeating Liverpool in the semi-final before edging out Eusebio’s Benfica in the final.
1966/67 EUROPEAN CUP-WINNERS’ CUP RANGERS 2 REAL ZARAGOZA 0
1967 is remembered, unfortunately, for Celtic winning the European Cup. And Rangers should really have lifted the other main European trophy that same year. Cup-Winners’ Cup holders Borussia Dortmund had been impressively defeated in the second round, a result that made Scot Symon’s team favourites for the competition to many onlookers. The quarter-final pairing with Spanish outfit Zaragoza was seen as perhaps a clash of the two strongest teams left in the draw.
Over 65,000 were inside Ibrox for the first leg, and it was a night where Rangers could and should have killed the tie. Glasgow was being battered by strong winds and heavy rain, with the visitors looking like they wanted to be anywhere else rather than suffering the wild Scottish weather. They were even less happy when the elegant Dave Smith gave Rangers the lead in the first ten minutes. Rangers scented blood, and laid siege to the Spanish goal. Alex Willoughby had been in sensational scoring form in the previous few weeks, after taking the centre forward role in the team when Jim Forrest and George McLean were cast aside following the Scottish Cup horror at Berwick. And he grabbed the second before the half hour.
But despite dominating for almost all the remainder of the game, the match ended 2-0. In an incredible second leg in Spain, Zaragoza won 2-0 thanks to a controversial late penalty, and also Smith missing an extra-time spot kick for Rangers. It meant the winners would be decided by the toss of a coin, a bizarre way to decide such a high level match. Captain John Greig guessed correctly when the French referee flipped a 2 Franc coin, and Rangers squeezed through. They would reach the final in Nuremburg, where they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich, with a team intentionally missing the firepower of Forrest, McLean, Willoughby and Davie Wilson. Defender Roger Hynd played up front for reasons best understood by the Rangers manager. It would be Scot Symon’s last full season in charge.
1967/68 INTER-CITIES FAIRS CUP RANGERS 0 LEEDS UNITED 0
When Rangers welcomed Don Revie’s Leeds United to Ibrox at the end of March 1968, they were sitting unbeaten at the top of the league having dropped only three points all season. Davie White was no the man in charge after the sacking of Symon in November after a home draw with Dunfermline. Since then White had only failed to win once in the league, a draw at Parkhead. They would be facing a team also in great form. Leeds had just won the League Cup final, defeating Arsenal to win the first major trophy in club history. They were challenging strongly for the league title as well, and seemed like a team on the verge of great things.
Ibrox was packed with 85,000 inside to witness this much-anticipated Battle of Britain. They watched an intense and physical battle, with Revie setting up his team to defend and play for a draw with the home leg still to come. He had built a team full of warriors, with the likes of Billy Bremner in midfield and a fearsome central defensive partnership of Jack Charlton and Norman Hunter. Rangers did create a few chances, but found Welsh goalkeeper Gary Sprake in excellent form when called upon.
Swedish winger Orjan Persson came closest to a goal for Rangers on the night, forcing Sprake into a world-class save in the dying minutes when he got his fingertips to a fierce shot that looked destined for the net. The Leeds players celebrated at the end, and they were right to. They won the return match in Yorkshire 2-0, and went on to win the trophy when they defeated Ferencvaros in the two-legged final. Rangers ended a second successive season trophyless, despite only losing one league game in the entire campaign.
1968/69 INTER-CITIES FAIRS CUP RANGERS 4 ATHLETIC BILBAO 1
56 years ago, the same opposition as we face this Thursday came to Ibrox for a quarter-final match first leg. If only we could repeat the scoreline again!
Alex Ferguson got the ball rolling on the night with a goal after just seven minutes, and when Andy Penman doubled the Rangers lead before the half hour, it looked like Rangers were well on their way to the semi-finals. But the noisy 63,000 crowd were briefly silenced just two minutes later when Bilbao forward Clemente beat Norrie Martin in the Rangers goal. At half-time the tie was finely balanced at 2-1.
The second half started in ideal fashion for Rangers when they were awarded a penalty. Skipper Greig took the responsibility but blazed his effort over the crossbar. The Spaniards then looked to hold on to what they had, thinking a one-goal deficit was acceptable with their home game to come. But a clever substitution by manager White changed things dramatically. He took off Ferguson and sent on Persson, and the Swede rewarded him by scoring with just four minutes left. And if that wasn’t enough, the deadly Colin Stein snatched a fourth goal just a minute later.
Rangers needed all of their lead, as they went on to lose 2-0 in the return game. A 4-3 aggregate win saw them reach the last four, where they would lose to English opposition for the second successive season. Their conquerors Newcastle United went on to keep the trophy in England by comfortably beating Hungarians FC Ujpest in the final.
1971/72 EUROPEAN CUP-WINNERS’ CUP RANGERS 1 TORINO 0
The European campaign that sits above all others ended in glory on May 24th 1972 in Barcelona. To get there, Rangers defeated the cup winners from four of the major European nations. Rennes of France and Sporting Lisbon of Portugal had been beaten before the quarter-final saw Torino of Italy stand in the way of Willie Waddell’s Rangers. A brilliantly disciplined away performance in Turin saw Rangers return home with a 1-1 draw, and with home advantage to come the Rangers support were dreaming that this finally would be their season in Europe.
Ten of the eleven players who would achieve club immortality in Barcelona started in the Ibrox quarter-final, the only absentee was Alfie Conn. His midfield spot was occupied by Derek Johnstone, who would be centre half in the final. In the middle of defence was Colin Jackson, who would later miss out on playing against Moscow Dynamo due to injury.
With the away goal from Turin meaning a goalless draw would see Rangers through, the match developed into a cagey and tactical battle. Chances were few and far between, with Waddell determined to keep the back door firmly locked. Rangers were the team with more possession and the majority of the territory, but the game reached half-time with neither keeper beaten. The closest thing was at the Rangers end, however, Peter McCloy glad to see an effort from Toschi come back off the post.
Then just after half-time came the goal that a very nervous 75,000 craved. It wasn’t the prettiest of goals, but it was scored by a man who made a habit of scoring on the big occasion. A low Tommy McLean cross caused hesitation in the Italian defence, and in stepped Alex MacDonald to bundle it home from close range. It would be the only goal of the night, the same scoreline and same scorer as in the first round win over Rennes. There was one late scare, when a Luppi header shaved the post with McCloy beaten. The mighty Bayern Munich awaited in the semi-final, which would be one of the greatest nights Ibrox has ever seen.
1978/79 EUROPEAN CUP RANGERS 1 COLOGNE 1
John Greig’s first season as Rangers manager was one of bewildering ups and downs. Domestically, both cups were retained, but the league was thrown away thanks to terrible inconsistency and a pitiful collapse against ten men at Parkhead in May. But the highlight of the season was in the European Cup, where two genuine contenders for the trophy were defeated in the first two rounds. Juventus contained virtually all of the Italy team who finished fourth at the World Cup, they were beaten 2-1 thanks to an unforgettable night at Ibrox. Then a PSV Eindhoven team full of Dutch internationals and who had never lost at home in continental competition were dispatched thanks to an incredible win in Holland. The quarter-final draw gave Rangers a tie against West German opponents in the form of FC Cologne.
And another big scalp looked a distinct possibility after the first leg, when an ultra-defensive Rangers escaped from Cologne with a 1-0 defeat thanks to a goal by the highly-rated international centre forward Dieter Muller. Club captain Derek Johnstone missed the game through injury, and didn’t play in any of the games between the two European ties. Fellow striker Derek Parlane had also taken a knock, so in these matches it was novice centre forward Billy Urquhart who started up front. The summer signing from Inverness was a wholehearted player and he scored a few goals, but he lacked the class of the Dereks. In the Ibrox return, which was played on a Thursday night after the match was called off the previous day due to snow, manager Greig opted to keep faith in Urquhart despite both Johnstone and Parlane now available.
It was a night for the capacity 44,000 to forget, in an Ibrox with no Copland Road end due to the new stand being under construction. Rangers struggled from the start to impose themselves on the game, with Cologne looking as likely to add to their lead as Rangers did to get level. The first goal seemed crucial and it went to the visitors just after half-time. The scorer was again Muller, and it meant Rangers needed three goals in just over 40 minutes or they would be out. Johnstone came on, then Parlane replaced Urquhart who had just missed a glorious chance to equalise. Many fans had started to drift away by the time Tommy McLean scored a late equaliser with a quickly taken free kick that surprised goalkeeper Schumacher. Cologne lost to eventual winners Nottingham Forest in the semi-final.
1987/88 EUROPEAN CUP RANGERS 2 STEAUA BUCHAREST 1
Rangers next played in the European Cup nine years later, after the league title had finally been brought back to the club under Graeme Souness. And his first attempt at the big prize as a manager started superbly when Rangers memorably overcame an excellent Dynamo Kiev team in the first round in a white-hot Ibrox atmosphere. Gornik of Poland were comfortably taken care of in the next round, which put Rangers into the last eight. It looked a wide open tournament, with Diego Maradona’s Napoli knocked out in the first round, and the two favourites Real Madrid and Bayern Munich drawing each other in the quarter-final. Many fancied Rangers chances.
But by the time of the first leg of the quarter final against 1986 winners Steaua Bucharest, Rangers were in some disarray. Captain Terry Butcher had broken his leg in December, ruling him out for the rest of the campaign. And the decision to sell both Robert Fleck and Mark Falco meant Souness only had Ally McCoist as a recognised centre forward. He then picked up a knee injury. And winger Mark Walters, who was in excellent form, was signed after the European deadline and was ineligible. They were falling behind badly in the league, and got knocked out of the Scottish Cup at Dunfermline.
The away leg was lost 2-0, McCoist rushed back into the team just eight days after keyhole knee surgery, but was nowhere near fit. If not for a brilliant display by goalkeeper Chris Woods, it would have been worse, with Bucharest’s star midfielder Gheorghe Hagi running the show. It left Rangers a mountain to climb, but a sold-out Ibrox still believed, teams taking to the pitch to a special atmosphere. That lasted just three minutes. Bucharest winger Lacatus sprung the Rangers offside trap and finished clinically. Rangers now needed four to get through.
By half-time they had two of them, a Richard Gough header then a McCoist penalty after a foul on Ian Durrant. But the second period was an anti-climax, the visitors holding on with a bit to spare. It might have been a hectic finale if McCoist had scored with a decent chance with a quarter of an hour left, but when he sent his shot over the bar, the last faint hope of a comeback was gone.
Steaua lost to Benfica in the semi-final, and they in turn lost the final to surprise winners PSV Eindhoven. It felt like a real chance of immortality had been lost.
2007/08 UEFA CUP RANGERS 0 SPORTING LISBON 0
Walter Smith’s first full season back as Rangers manager was certainly a memorable one. A marathon European season started with Champions League qualifiers, with Rangers progressing into the toughest looking of all the groups where they finished third despite outstanding wins at home to Stuttgart and away to Lyon, as well as a home draw with star-studded Barcelona. That meant dropping into the knockout rounds of the UEFA Cup, and the first two rounds were successfully navigated with nail biting wins over Panathanaikos and Werder Bremen. Old foes Sporting Lisbon were next, with Rangers at home in the first leg.
Smith’s strategy when at home first was simple. Keep things tight, look to ensure no away goal conceded, and try to score on the break if possible. A solid 4-5-1 formation was used, with no risks taken. It made for a game of few chances, with few in the 49,000 crowd taking home any great memories of the occasion. But the away leg to come was very different. Two sensational goals by Jean-Claude Darcheville and Steven Whittaker sent the travelling support into orbit, as Rangers won 2-0. The incredible run ended in the final, where Dick Advocaat’s Zenit were just too good on the night against a Rangers team who by then were running on empty after serious fixture congestion meant playing massive games every few days.
2021/22 EUROPA LEAGUE RANGERS 3 BRAGA 1
The most recent last eight tie at Ibrox was also against Portuguese opposition. After defeating Dortmund and Red Star Belgrade in memorable fashion, Rangers faced familiar opponents in Sporting Braga, a team they had defeated in 2020 in the same competition. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team returned from Portugal in the first leg 1-0 down, but with the competition no longer having the away goals rule, it meant any Rangers win would mean extra-time at worst.
Ibrox was at its noisy and imposing best, as Rangers roared out of the traps. It took just over a minute for the tie to be level, captain James Tavernier arriving at the back post to dispatch the ball into the net and ramp up the noise level even more. Incredibly, it meant the full back had opened the scoring in all three home knockout matches in the competition. Minutes later Kemar Roofe looked to have made it 2-0, only for VAR to intervene and harshly rule out his strike. Braga were reeling as Rangers mounted sustained pressure on their goal, and they were in huge trouble just before the interval. Defender Tormena pulled back Kemar Roofe in the penalty area, and as well as warding the penalty, the French referee showed Tormena the red card. Tavernier scored, and Rangers were in front against ten men.
That should have meant a second half of few worries, but Rangers decided to do it the hard way. They spurned some glorious chances to kill the game, and Roofe had another goal chalked off. Then with seven minutes left, Braga scored with a header from a corner to level the tie. It meant extra time.
Roofe had been denied twice in normal time, but in the 101st minute he got the goal that settled things. The striker was in the right place at the right time to stroke home a low Glen Kamara cross, and Ibrox erupted. Braga would go down to nine men near the end of extra time when Medeiros was given a second yellow card, and Rangers eased through without scoring again.
As well all remember, Leipzig were defeated next and Rangers came as close to European glory as is possible in the final against Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville.
OVERALL SUMMARY
The complete Rangers record in European quarter-finals at Ibrox reads
P 12 W 8 D 3 L 1 F 24 A 5
Despite this very impressive record at home, the quarter final stage has seen Rangers advance seven times and go out five times. Bilbao have been conquered before in the last eight of a European competition, it would be as impressive a win as any before if they are beaten again in 2025.