ANTONIO COLAK condemned Rangers to a Champions League nightmare with Malmo. Now he is out to make their European dreams a reality at Ibrox.
The striker scored twice as Steven Gerrard's side succumbed to a shock defeat against the Swedes last term and crashed out of the competition just weeks after landing the Premiership title.
Rangers are now gearing up for another qualifying campaign and Giovanni van Bronckhorst will discover who lies in wait when the draw for the third round is made next Monday.
Colak watched on as Van Bronckhorst guided his side to the brink of Europa League glory last term after Malmo were eliminated from a section that included Chelsea, Juventus and Zenit St Petersburg.
And the 28-year-old now has another group stage berth in his sights after completing his move from PAOK and getting up to speed with his new team-mates at a training camp in Portugal.
“I hope I can make it happen," Colak said. “It was the first full stadium after Covid I think and I remember the game so well.
“It was an amazing atmosphere, of course at the end they were a little bit down. But I hope in my time here I can heat them up again.
“I want to experience this crazy atmosphere and I am really looking forward to the push from the fans. I hope we can celebrate a lot of goals and a lot of wins together.
“You see how strong this group is already. If it wasn’t an amazing group then they wouldn’t have gone all the way to the Europa League Final.
“We just have to keep that same team spirit and build on last season.
“I will try and bring my best for the team because it’s important that we are all successful.
“You saw last season that it is so important to be on point in these matches.
“These games start at the beginning of the season and you don’t have too much season experience.
“When you play the qualification matches you have to be ready, it is one of our big targets this season, we want to go to the group stage and win titles. For this we have to fight hard.”
Colak returned to Greece at the end of his loan stint with Malmo but endured a difficult time as he scored just three goals for PAOK and failed to recapture his finest form.
The Croatian has enjoyed the best football of his career in Sweden and in his homeland with Rijeka but a series of moves across Europe have seen him struggle at times.
A three-year contract is a show of faith from Rangers and Colak is determined to repay it by settling down and sticking in at the latest stop on a nomadic career in the game.
“It is true that I had other options," Colak said. “But when I knew from the start that Rangers wanted me then there was only one option for me.
“It’s Rangers. It’s a big club, a big institution. Everybody knows Rangers and what kind of club it is.
“It is one of the biggest clubs in the world and for me there was no other choice.
“I hope I can do this. My life is like this, it was never easy, but it was always going up.
“I have always had to fight for my achievements. Sometimes as a loan player you don’t always have the luck, but always if I stay for a long time I achieve a lot and score a lot of goals.
“I am really looking forward to my time here, I want to stay for as long as possible and score as many goals as I can.
“Football can be tough at times. You want to settle in somewhere and you want to be happy.
“I am really open-minded and open-hearted. I like to meet new people and experience new things.
“All in all, you want to belong somewhere because it can feel more like home. And I think in Glasgow Rangers I have found that already.
“I have had so many messages and so much support that I feel part of the family and it feels like home already.”
Rangers will continue their preparations for the new campaign with a trip to face Blackpool this weekend and also have Ibrox fixtures against West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur to come.
Van Bronckhorst saw his side lift the Scottish Cup just days after their heartache in Seville as the season ended on a high note in May.
Now Rangers have more domestic silverware and another lengthy European run in their sights during Van Bronckhorst's first full term in charge.
Colak said: “I am really excited and happy, it couldn’t be a better feeling to be honest.
“It’s finally happened. There were some hard negotiations but nowadays that is normal in football.
“The feeling the boss gave me was an amazing one. Everyone around the squad has given me that same feeling too.
“I am here and I want to achieve for this club and the fans.
“I enjoy the pressure. I am getting to know the group and I can see that everyone is really high professionally.
“Everyone wants to win, even in training. That suits me, I like that.
“I like to win every game, I want to score in every game. These are the positive ambitions I have.”
