ian1964 10,500 Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 RANGERS are unhappy with the Clydesdale Bank Premier League for scheduling an Old Firm game between the two ties in the last 32 of the Europa League. They were drawn against Sporting Lisbon yesterday and now face a pivotal eight days in February which will be hugely significant in their pursuit of four trophies. Rangers realised weeks ago that if they made it through to the Europa League their first ties in 2011 would come either side of the third league game against Celtic this season. Now they know exactly what is being demanded of them as they face Sporting at Ibrox on Thursday February 17, go to Parkhead at lunchtime on Sunday 20, and are then in Portugal for the second leg on February 24. Rangers have been unhappy with the scheduling since the SPL announced its league dates months ago, even before they knew it would definitely affect them. Privately the clubââ?¬â?¢s view is that the derby should have been scheduled away from the European dates. The UEFA draw in Nyon, Switzerland, also paired Rangers with either Lille or PSV Eindhoven in the last 16 if they were to make it past the Portuguese, who have former Rangers man Pedro Mendes in their squad. Currently, they are third in the league, 12 points behind leaders Porto. Rangers memorably defeated Sporting in the quarter-finals when they went on to reach the UEFA Cup final in 2008. Given that Rangers were unseeded and could have drawn the likes of Manchester City or Liverpool, being paired with Sporting and then Lille or PSV was a draw warmly welcomed by the Rangers management. The first leg against Lisbon is at Ibrox and, if they progress, they would have home advantage in the second leg in the last 16. Walter Smith, the Rangers manager, was pleased with the draw and reflected on the 2-0 away win which eliminated Sporting in 2008. ââ?¬Å?We know we will face two really tough games because they are playing well at the moment and we had to play well to win there last time out. ââ?¬Å?We played some good football against them across the two legs and we will have to repeat those kinds of levels to have success in the Europa League. Of course, Pedro Mendes is there so we know the quality of player that we will face. ââ?¬Å?Weââ?¬â?¢ve got good experience now in European competitions and weââ?¬â?¢ll need to use that to handle the situations. You can use every element to your advantage and we can try to do that with having the first leg at home. There is plenty of time between now and the games. We we will have them watched closely and will know what we are up against.ââ?¬Â Sporting werenââ?¬â?¢t at the draw as bad weather prevented Francisco Costa, their director of football, from arriving in time. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/rangers/rangers-dissatisfied-after-euro-dates-sandwich-old-firm-game-1.1075234 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gribz 743 Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 I guess the only good thing is the 1st leg is at Ibrox. if we were away in Portugal on the Thurs night then not flying back to Glasgow until Friday would have been much worse. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyk 158 Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 Nothing new from the SPL they haven't helped us in the past when we have European games and don't give a toss about the club or the fans when doing so. Other countries seem to bend over backwards to help their clubs in Europe, we seem to do the opposite....... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,500 Posted December 18, 2010 Author Share Posted December 18, 2010 Nothing new from the SPL they haven't helped us in the past when we have European games and don't give a toss about the club or the fans when doing so. Other countries seem to bend over backwards to help their clubs in Europe, we seem to do the opposite....... Aye,this season after our CL games we were away from home,whatever we win we win it without any help from anybody, tis a conspiracy I tell ye 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Ally 0 Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 Considering we were third seeds in our group they must have realised us finishing third and hence playing in this round of the UEFA cup was the most likely option. You know they would not do this to the tims. Will be interested to see who gets shafted in the split this year. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
metlika 0 Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 Tims have never had 3 away games in the split in the whole history iirc, so it will be us. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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