Rangers will be hoping the writing isn’t on the wall for them in the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium on Wednesday.
But the Ibrox side are already part of Seville’s stadium facade with the club included in the Spanish outfit’s spectacular mosaic.
The striking tilework sits above the entrance to the La Liga club’s arena after the 470 square-metre piece was added to the wall of the stadium during a stadium upgrade 40 years ago.
That was during the 1982 World Cup in Spain and the mosaic features the club crests from 60 teams Seville have faced from across the world as a ‘symbol of friendship and fraternity’ in the world of sport’.
And the Ibrox side were one of the first ever visitors to Seville’s ground in a competitive game when they faced each other in the first round of the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1962/63.
Rangers will be hoping for a better result than their 2-0 defeat in Spain but Scot Symon’s men still progressed thanks to a 4-0 Ibrox win courtesy of a Jimmy Millar hat-trick and Ralph Brand goal.
Only Benfica, Danish side Aarhus and Real Madrid had visited the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium in European competition prior to that when Seville made their debut in continental competition in the 1957/58 European Cup.
It was in that same tournament when Rangers returned in the rebranded Champions League with Freddie Kanoute’s early goal the difference between the Spaniards and Walter Smith’s side in 2009.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst will be hoping their place in that famous mosaic is a lucky omen ahead of their clash with Eintracht Frankfurt.
And neutrals will be hoping for a better match than the only other European final to take place at the ground.
That was the 1986 European Cup final which ended in a dire 0-0 draw between Steaua Bucharest and Barcelona and even the penalty shoot-out saw the net bulge just twice with the Romanians triumphant.
