Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd acknowledges that the Europa League represents the club's final chance for silverware this season but remains skeptical about their chances of lifting the trophy despite reaching the quarter-finals against Athletic Bilbao.
Rangers secured their place in the last eight with a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Turkish giants Fenerbahce, with goalkeeper Jack Butland making two crucial saves in the 3-2 shootout win after a 3-3 aggregate score across both legs. This European run stands in stark contrast to their domestic form, where they currently trail Celtic by 16 points in the Scottish Premiership with just nine matches remaining.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Boyd emphasised the importance of the Europa League to Rangers.
"It's the only thing they've got right now," Boyd said. "I know you can play for pride tomorrow [vs Celtic] and between now and the end of the season. But if you are at a club like Rangers then you should be winning trophies and you should still be in competitions with a chance to do that at this moment in time."
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The pundit, who scored over one hundred goals for Rangers across two spells at the club, highlighted their domestic failures this season, pointing to their agonising League Cup final defeat to Celtic in December, their shock Scottish Cup elimination by Championship side Queen's Park in the fifth round, and their inconsistent league form that has seen them lose four times at Ibrox already this campaign.
"Obviously they lost the League Cup final to Celtic a few months ago, the Scottish Cup they were knocked out by Queen's Park, and the league has been really poor," he continued. "Now it's all your eggs in one basket regarding the Europa League."
Despite applauding the achievement of reaching the quarter-finals, Boyd was candid about Rangers' chances of emulating their 2022 run to the final.
He said: "Do I think Rangers will win it? No. But to get to this stage again considering how bad it's been domestically, it's got to be looked upon as an achievement."
The former Scotland international also suggested that European progress may have extended former manager Philippe Clement's tenure at the club despite domestic struggles since his appointment in October 2023.
"Maybe that's the reason Philippe Clement stayed in the job for longer than what he should have," Boyd remarked.
While critical of Rangers' most recent European performance in the second leg at Ibrox, Boyd praised their impressive display in Istanbul that set up their progress.
"The performance on Thursday wasn't great but you can't take away how good Rangers were last week in Istanbul, they were excellent. It finished three, it could've easily been four or five, and that's when they got the job done."
Boyd also dismissed the notion that penalty shootouts are purely down to luck: "Yes, it's nervy when it gets to penalty kicks and everybody says it's a lottery and it's lucky. It's not. Can you handle the pressure, going forward can you hit the penalty clean into the back of the net and you hope your goalkeeper makes big saves, and that's exactly what happened with Rangers."
Rangers will now face Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-finals, with the first leg scheduled to take place at Ibrox on April 10th, followed by the return leg at San Mamés Stadium on April 17th. The Basque club eliminated Roma in the previous round.
