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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Robbie Copeland

Graeme Souness applauds Rangers as he insists Europa League run is karma for those 'delighted' by their demise

Graeme Souness says it's "sad" that not all of Scottish football will be cheering on Rangers come Wednesday night.

Gio van Bronckhorst's team travel to Seville for the Europa League final and it couldn't be further from where they were a decade ago.

Their semi-final victory over RB Leipzig came ten years to the day that they beat East Stirlingshire in the old Third Division under Ally McCoist.

Their rise back to the top since then has been remarkable and it will be a proud day for everyone associated with the club when they take on Eintracht Frankfurt looking for their second ever European trophy.

Souness reckons there are those within the Scottish game who "delighted" in seeing Rangers struggle at the bottom of the Scottish game after their demotion in 2012

And he reckons the same detractors will be praying they don't get a result on Wednesday night.

"The vast majority of people who have been involved at Rangers in the past ten years deserve enormous credit,” he told the Sunday Times.

“Reaching the final has not only put Rangers back on the map, the credibility it has given Scottish football cannot be underestimated.

"It is ten years since Rangers' administration and liquidation. The treatment they received within Scottish football, being demoted to the bottom division as punishment, was only to be expected because of the parochial attitude up there and I'm speaking from experience.

"In ten years Rangers have gone from near extinction to the final of the second most important European competition.

"Sadly, this will not be universally accepted in Scotland as a great thing.

"The same people that were happy to see the demise of Rangers ten years ago will be watching on Wednesday, wanting them to lose.

"There was great delight in Rangers' demise, maybe that's why their fans often sing: ‘No one likes us, we don't care’.

"When Walter Smith led Rangers to the Uefa Cup final in 2008, I never imagined I would see them in another European final in my lifetime.

"Walter did it with a disciplined and organised team, playing counterattacking football, but I don't see the same strategy from this team.

"They play a brand of football that's composed. They have a plan, everyone knows what they are doing and they carry a threat with real pace and energy."

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