Well before the Friday hangovers were brewing among those who left Ibrox to chase them, the question was already being asked. In the terraces, out in the streets and in between the chants echoing through the inner and outer rings of Glasgow’s subway system, Rangers fans wanted to know - was this the greatest of European successes?
Theirs, of course. Celtic’s European Cup still occupies prime real estate in the domain of this city’s continental success. Even then, Rangers’ own Cup Winners Cup triumph in 1972, a year after the Ibrox disaster where 66 people lost their lives at an Old Firm game, resonated beyond the sport. Such proximity to a tragedy gives it a real-world context that perhaps a lot of what we celebrate in football could do with.
