How many points Celtic and Rangers dropped in final 7…

How many points Celtic and Rangers dropped in final 7 league games on road to European finals

The hot topic of discussion for Rangers fans right now is whether they would take Europa League glory over retaining their Scottish Premiership crown.

Former Ibrox captain and Record Sport columnist Barry Ferguson said last week that a 56th domestic title for his old club should be the priority.

Not many supporters would likely agree with that view as the Light Blues look to win only the second major European honour in their history on the 50th anniversary of their first.

And while bragging rights would be lost if they came second, they would still secure the ultimate prize of Champions League group stage football next season.

If Connor Goldson hadn’t come to the rescue with his late winner at Dens Park on Sunday then they might not even have had a choice.

A five point deficit to leaders and rivals Celtic with seven games to play, albeit two of them Old Firm showdowns, would have been too much in the eyes of a lot of fans.

But Goldson’s strike kept the gap at three points and Giovanni van Bronckhorst can challenge on three fronts.

However, there is no doubt that a jam-packed schedule is going to test his Rangers squad to the full..

It will become a juggling act in the coming weeks with the games coming thick and fast and players will likely need to be rested.

Celtic and Rangers have both reached a European final in the last 14 years and on each occasion they missed out on the league title on a dramatic final day after losing their respective finals - Celtic to Porto in 2003 and Rangers to Zenit St Petersburg five years later.

The amount of games was considered a factor in their respective pursuit of European glory and that is the challenge for Van Bronckhorst as he looks to reach the Europa League final in Seville.

Yet there is a real contrast in how the final seven games panned out for Celtic in 2002/03 and Rangers in 2007/08.

While Walter Smith’s side started flagging in the home straight - albeit they were in four competitions at one point and played 68 competitive games that season - it seemed give Martin O’Neill’s Hoops a boost.

Austin McCann scored that memorable thunderous winner for Hearts against Celtic at Tynecastle in April 2003 but that was their ONLY defeat in the final seven matches.

It still wasn’t enough for them to make up ground that had been lost earlier which could have been attributed to their European run.

In contrast, Rangers dropped 10 points in the final seven matches in 2008 before they summoned the energy to end the season on a high and lift the Scottish Cup.

Here, as this current Rangers team approach their final seven league games while also chasing Europa League and Scottish Cup glory we look back at the results in those seasons where the Old Firm reached the UEFA Cup final.