Feyenoord manager Dick Advocaat has heaped praise on the impact Steven Gerrard has made in his 18 months at Rangers.
The two will go toe-to-toe on the touchline on Thursday, as former Ibrox boss Advocaat looks to get the better of the incumbent coach and put his side on track for qualification.
Gerrard and Rangers , meanwhile, will know that a win can book their place in the knockout stages for the first time in eight years, provided Porto fail to conquer Young Boys in Bern.
The fact they stand on the verge of qualification is yet another testament to the job Gerrard has done at Ibrox, galvanising the club and leading them into a title challenge and a competitive European campaign in just his second season in the hotseat.
And that's a feeling reciprocated by Advocaat, who won back-to-back league titles with Rangers in 1999 and 2000, and says their upwards trajectory is a sign of Gerrard's quality.
"It is quite difficult to speak about him as a player because he was one of the world's best midfielders", Advocaat said in his press conference .
"Now he is going in a different job as a manager for a big club and everybody knows how difficult that is.
"But if you see, from the moment he stepped in it is only going up and that says enough about his quality."
It will be Advocaat's first match against Rangers since he managed Zenit in the 2008 UEFA Cup Final, having only taken over from Jaap Stam- who oversaw their visit to Ibrox before leaving the club - last month.
And it's an occasion he's looking forward to, explaining that his time in Glasgow was the 'most beautiful' time of his life, while praising the standard of Rangers and Celtic .
"It is a cracking game, I am looking forward to it so much, it will be a great game," he went on.
"I have a special bond with Rangers. I was there for four years and I can now tell you that it was the most beautiful period of my life, really something special.
"People think the Dutch competition is better but for me Scotland, Turkey and Russia as well, they have more tools, more finances, than most of the clubs in Holland.
"In Holland they still underestimate Scottish football a little but Celtic and Rangers are those European top clubs. I saw some games from them and they are really close to the level they want."
