Going into Monday’s Europa League draw, few clubs will have wanted to face Rangers, such is their form in all competitions these days.
Rather comfortably topping their groups with four wins and two draws from the six games, Steven Gerrard’s men will next face Royal Antwerp in the competition, with the first leg taking place on February 18th in Belgium.
It’s a rather comfortable draw on paper for the Scottish side, although the Belgians shouldn’t be written off entirely, having come second in their group to Tottenham, with just one point separating the two sides.
In fact, Ivan Leko’s men even outclassed José Mourinho’s troops back in October in a 1-0 win, which is why there’s belief Antwerp can pull off another upset in the next round of the competition.
One of the people with that mentality is Gilles De Bilde, who spoke to HLN Live following the draw.
He said: “The Scottish league is far weaker than the English one. Rangers may be a big name in European football, but above all a name from the past. Only in recent years have they really come back. It’s only a pity for Antwerp that they play at home first”.
He also added that ‘if Antwerp can beat Spurs, shouldn’t they also succeed against Rangers’?
That’s quite a statement, since Rangers are currently unbeaten in all competitions since the start of the season, showing a stout defence as well as a prolific attack.
We’ll have to wait and see if De Bilde is right, but to jump to such conclusions this early, solely based on the past seems a bit snooty, if you ask us.
