ANGE POSTECOGLOU believes that Rangers deserve to have reached the final of the Europa League as the Celtic manager acknowledged that the achievement has arrived during a difficult period for the Ibrox club.
Jimmy Bell, the long-serving kitman at Rangers who gained cult hero status amongst its supporters, died earlier this week ahead of the team's semi-final second leg at home to RB Leipzig.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men produced a sensational 3-1 victory over their Bundesliga opponents on Thursday night to book their place in the showpiece final in Seville later this month and Postecoglou admits to being impressed by his rivals' form on the continent this term.
"I think they have done awfully well and they fully deserved it last night," Postecolgou told a media conference on Friday. "Over the two legs I think they were the better team and they deserve to be in the final.
"They have been really strong in Europe all year. It has been a tough week for them with the passing of Jimmy Bell.
"Whenever you work inside a football club, when you lose somebody who has been such an integral part of the fabric – it must have been a really tough week for particularly the players and the staff that dealt with him.
"I thought they deserved to get through to the final and I think it says that they are a very good football team.
"I think they proved that last year by going the whole season undefeated, which is no mean feat, and this year with their strong performances in pretty much all the competitions.
"For us, I knew that was going to be the biggest challenge this year apart from our own form and how we performed. If we were going to be successful then we had to overcome a pretty formidable opponent."
