Rangers are a club and team with split personality

In Europe, there is more of a tendency to play with freedom. Even Rangers supporters expect little against Liverpool, which represents a situation this team are very rarely in

GREAT EXPECTATIONS: Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst before the cinch Premiership match against Hearts. Pic: Richard Sellers/PA Wire

In a way, it is curious that European football has provided salvation for Rangers in recent times. In 2011, aggregate defeats by Malmö and Maribor at least accelerated financial implosion that crystallised six months later. 

The 2017 Europa League exit at the hands of Progrès Niederkorn was compounded by the sight of the Rangers manager, Pedro Caixinha, gesticulating at irate supporters while standing in a bush. A club that prides itself on stature had been reduced to a laughing stock.