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Rangers: A look ahead to Standard Leige in the Europa League

By Stephen Little

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 17: Steven Gerrard, Manager of Rangers looks on during the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park on October 17, 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 17: Steven Gerrard, Manager of Rangers looks on during the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park on October 17, 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) /
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The hype still runs high after Rangers emphatic Old Firm derby win at the weekend, but now attention turns to Thursday’s Europa League encounter…

Imagine if we had been at the swamp watching Rangers take three glorious points off Celtic at the weekend, I’m pretty sure the banter would have been glorious. Among the many songs directed towards the ashen-faced Hoops fans, no doubt, we would have indulged in a round or two of “can we play you every week?” – it really was that embarrassing for them, and that fantastic for us.

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Alas football moves on and, this week, it moves on a little bit sooner as Thursday sees the Europa League back in action with the first match of the group stages. Thanks to COVID-19, it’s all happening a bit faster than the norm and we can expect midweek games weekly until mid-December. That of course puts the pressure on the lads to deliver, and Steven Gerrard to keep the squad sufficiently rotated, but at least we have lots to talk about.

This Thursday, the Light Blues are off to Belgium to face Standard Liege. It’s nice to actually play against teams in Europe that you’ve heard the name of, right? For good reason with Standard, they are something of an institution in Division A, the Begium Prem, having stayed in the top flight for a some 99 years – more than any other club in the country.

It’s not all been spent fighting against the grain either, Les Rouches have won the title 10 times in their history, the fourth most behind Anderlecht, Brugge and Union SG, and been runners up some 13 times too. Europe has been fairly ho-hum, but they did reach the final of the Cup Winners Cup in 1981, losing narrowly 2-1 to Barcelona, which of course is the competition which would eventually amalgamate into the Europa League.

So, basically, a decent sized Belgian side who would, in many ways, be considered on a par with Rangers. Well, perhaps Hibs or Celtic would be a more apt comparison. Nonetheless, they have had some good players in their history, Victor Valdes springs to mind, though nothing I can think of that has a Scottish connection. Motherwell and former Celtic striker Tony Watt played there for a bit, but then he’s had more clubs than Tiger Woods.

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Their current squad, however, appears very solid and one need look no further than Zinho Vanheusden, already a full Belgian international at age 21. In fact, the Standard squad is generally quite youthful, averaging under 26 across the starting XI alone. One of the few older and more experienced players is winger Mehdi Carcela, a 31 year old Moroccan international with experience at the World Cup alongside playing at Benefica, Granada and Olympiacos.

Carcela isn’t the only Moroccan national in the squad, with 23 year old attacking midfielder Selim Amallah a constant threat. He’s not unknown in the UK, having scored last year when Standard met Arsenal in the group stages of the Europa League, drawing 2-2 in that encounter. He’s scored four times in Standard’s three Europa games this season so far, an omen for Rangers to be sure.

In any case, Standard doubtless aren’t as big a club as Galatasaray, who we sent packing only a few weeks ago. They have history, and promise, but their league is weaker and their team has yet to hit it’s absolute best. Rangers, however, sit proudly atop the Scottish Premiership having yet to taste defeat in any competition this season.

That all said, it’s important Gerrard and the lads focus and not let the recent results get to their heads. Complacency is something we’ve warned of countless times in the past, but as Rangers keep winning the risk keeps rising. We may not be able to play Celtic every week, alas, but let’s come out of Belgium singing the same to Standard Liege.

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