Credit: Rangers via YouTube, Imago

Jonathan Burnett

Tue 25 February 2025 19:10, UK

Rangers will continue their Europa League journey next month with a two-legged tie against Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.

Having finished in the top eight of the competition’s new league phase in January, Rangers were one of the seeded sides in last week’s round-of-16 draw, drawing Fenerbahce instead of Bodo/Glimt.

Mourinho won’t be coming up against Philippe Clement in the Ibrox dugout, though, as the Belgian was sacked on Sunday following Rangers’ 2-0 defeat to St Mirren, a culmination of their poor domestic form.

Barry Ferguson has been appointed in interim charge for the rest of the season, meaning he’ll go up against Mourinho on the touchline as the Gers look to make progress towards the final in Bilbao.

Rangers ruled as outsiders for Europa League title win

Although Rangers finished in the top eight Europa League placings – sealing their place with a 2-1 win over Union Saint-Gilloise last month – they’re not seen as one of the favourites to go all the way.

In fact, the Opta Analyst‘s latest predictions, updated after the round of 16 draw (21 February), ranks the Light Blues as 13th favourites to lift the title in Bilbao, well behind some of the more recent qualifiers.

Rangers‘ 1.9 per cent chance of winning the competition has dropped slightly to 1.5 per cent after being drawn against Fenerbahce, with the winner to face either Roma or Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-finals.

Rangers could rue Clement sacking after European exploits

Clement’s sacking came against the backdrop of a dismal domestic campaign; sitting 13 points behind Celtic at the top of the Premiership and suffering an embarrassing Scottish Cup defeat to Queen’s Park.

On the continent, however, Clement barely put a foot wrong, with the Gers winning four of their eight league stage matches to reach the last 16 and only suffering defeats to Manchester United and Lyon.

Massive four-goal victories over both FCSB and Nice saw Clement equal Steven Gerrard’s European record, and provided a silver lining for Rangers fans in the face of their below-par record domestically.

However, with Clement out the door and club legend Ferguson leading Rangers on the road to Bilbao for the rest of the campaign, expect the Ibrox atmosphere to go up a few notches against Fenerbahce.

Going up against Mourinho just a few matches into his tenure will be a baptism of fire for Ferguson and his coaching team, but with Ibrox firmly behind them, who knows how the tie will pan out.