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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
Sport
Mark McDougall

The Rangers 1992/93 parallel with one crucial difference for Steven Gerrard's men

It was the season of the famous battle of Britain with Leeds - but unfortunately also the year Rangers just missed out on the Champions League Final.

It's crazy to think that they were so close to reaching it and have never been anywhere near that level since, an example of the changing landscape of the game.

But the 1992/93 European campaign was an incredible one for the Ibrox men, and this season has strong parallels with it.

Steven Gerrard's men topped their Europa League group on Thursday night with a 2-0 win over Lech Poznan, despite making seven changes to their starting lineup.

Players like Nathan Patterson, Bongani Zungu, Ianis Hagi and Cedric Itten were handed big opportunities and all four grasped them in Poland.

It's crazy to think this is a club who were knocked out by Progres Niederkorn in the qualifiers just four seasons ago under Pedro Caixinha.

As well as topping the group, Rangers smashed a European points tally record for a Scottish team with 14 points, and arguably should have got all 18, if not for throwing away two goal leads against Benfica twice.

The 14 points came from four wins and two draws, and that means Rangers ended the group stage unbeaten.

It's just the second time that has ever happened for a Scottish club, with the other coming in that famous 1992/93 season - but there's one major difference.

Under Walter Smith, it was the first ever 'Champions League' after it was rebranded from the old European Cup and Rangers played a big part in it.

They came through the qualifiers without losing a game, with victories over Lyngby and Leeds.

Into the group stage and Marseille, CSKA Moskow and Club Brugge were the opposition and still, Rangers finished the group stage unbeaten.

But there was one major difference - they never qualified.

Back then, there were only eight teams in the Champions League 'proper' and the top team from each pool qualified for the final.

Unfortunately for Rangers, they finished second with two wins and four draws from their games, while Marseille went one point better with three wins and three draws.

There is the caveat that Marseille were hit by a match-fixing scandal in the league that season and some feel it happened in Europe too, although they were never found to have cheated in the Champions League.

The French side would go on to lift the trophy after beating AC Milan in the final, with future Rangers player Basile Boli scoring the winning goal.

And there lies the major difference with the two seasons. In 1992/93, Rangers were unbeaten in European group stage action. In 2020/21, Rangers were unbeaten in European group stage action. Only once did they make it through to the next round, and that's under Gerrard.

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