Rangers travel to Romania for Wednesday night’s Group G clash knowing that anything less than a win will end their hopes of playing European football after Christmas. Three points would keep their slim chance of progressing in the Champions League alive but, perhaps more realistically, would keep them in the hunt for third spot and a place in the Europa League knockout stages.
The opening day 1-1 draw in Stuttgart apart, performances so far suggest talk of travelling in the new year is more optimistic than reasoned. A 4-1 defeat to Spanish giants Sevilla is no embarrassment for the impoverished SPL champions but going down by the same scoreline to Unirea at Ibrox surely ranks as one of the worst results in the club’s history.
The Romanian champions showed plenty of ability in the match in Glasgow but, with their most expensive signing coming in at just £350,000, Walter Smith’s side were not expected to drop points and certainly didn’t expect to have their shortcomings so mercilessly exposed. The result seemed to fit with the air of despondency around Ibrox, with stuttering performance being compounded by injuries and the increasing worries over the club’s finances.
Since the horror show two weeks ago, the off-field events have taken centre-stage but Smith has overseen a slight improvement on the playing side. A 1-1 draw at home to anyone other than Celtic is not usually acceptable but, coming against John Hughes’ resurgent Hibs side, showed an improvement in commitment and quality.
The draw was followed up with a Co-operative Cup win over Dundee and, before the referee called a halt to proceedings due to the weather, Rangers were 1-0 up against Dundee United at Tannadice. Smith had positives to take from the performance and, having come up with a plan to take a point in Germany, will now be plotting how to get the best from his squad against Dan Petrescu’s team.
The squad is diminished by the absence of Pedro Mendes, who was injured in the Ibrox tie and will now face a long spell on the sidelines. Central defender Madjid Bougherra is still suffering from a knee injury and is unlikely to return, while Lee McCulloch, who has been pressed into service at the back, is also a doubt with a thigh injury. Rookie defender Danny Wilson could partner David Weir after starting Rangers’ last two games.
While the 4-1 match offered compelling evidence of Unirea’s goal threat, there is some encouragement for Rangers as they make the trip east. Though Petrescu’s side showed surroundings didn’t intimidate them in Glasgow, they will not be on home ground on Wednesday night. The tie has been moved to Steaua Bucharest’s stadium as Unirea’s Tineretului has a capacity of only 7,000 and is not big enough to host Champions League games.
Unirea’s domestic form has been patchy and although they sit only one point off the top, the league has been tight this year and there are six teams above them in the table. It took a last minute Bilasco goal to secure a 3-2 win over Craiova on Saturday and that match was preceded by a 0-0 draw at Pandurii and a 2-1 home defeat to Vaslui.
You can follow live text commentary of the match on stv.tv/sport. The match kicks off on Wednesday November 4 at 7.45pm.
Last updated: 02 November 2009, 13:36
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