‘Wow’ – BBC pundit shares instant reaction to Rangers & Celtic Europa League draws
BBC Sportsound pundit Tam McManus believes that Rangers have been drawn in an “easier” Europa League group that Celtic.
Both clubs progressed to the group stages of the competition on Thursday as the Gers secured an impressive 2-1 win against Turkish giants Galatasaray and Celtic stuttered to a 1-0 win against Sarajevo.
Steven Gerrard’s side will now face Benfica, Standard Liege and Lech Poznan in the Group D while Neil Lennon’s men have been drawn in Group H with AC Milan, Lille and Sparta Prague.
After seeing the draw, former Hibernian striker McManus too to his personal Twitter account to react.
He said: “Wow, that is a very tough group for Celtic.
“Rangers’ looks a bit easier on paper, to be honest.”
It’s hard to disagree with McManus here although Rangers’ group is not easy by any means.
Benfica are one of the best teams in the Europa League this season while Standard Liege and Lech Poznan are not pushovers.
However, there’s no denying that Celtic’s group is tougher as AC Milan will be among the favourites to win the Europa League this stage and Lille finished fourth in Ligue 1 last season and currently sit second in France’s top-tier.
Wouldn’t it be nice for us to progress to the knock-out rounds and for Celtic to be knocked out at the group stages?
But, for the sake of Scottish football, we need both clubs to progress in order for the nation’s game to receive more money down the line and get a better reputation.
Rangers are doing their bit to improve Scotland’s stature in European football but no one else is really pulling their weight at the moment.
In other Rangers news, Gerrard’s responded to a rumour linking this player with an Ibrox medical.