Prso is God - Champions League is coming home (GERS … 2 Anorthosis Famagusta .. 0)

Ibrox, Scotland’s Home of the Champions League, is once again the focus of European eyes. For the seventh time in the fourteen seasons of its existence, Rangers are sat at the top table of Uefa’s big nosh up. The greatest names in World Football play in the Champions League and, regular as clockwork, Rangers are right in amongst them.

Agents will phone us, foreign journalists will report us, magazines and papers will quote us, sponsors will fall over us, money will drown us. We are The Champions - this is our League. Thomas Buffel and Dado Prso’s goals tonight have reconfirmed Rangers eternal place as the pre-eminent club in Scotland and one of the respected British names on the continent.

Some clubs have little spells of two or three qualifications in four or five years before returning to their habitual failure to do anything noteworthy or lucrative in Europe. Some clubs, let’s be honest, make the Champions League EVERY year. But since the Champions League was designed to maximise revenue and eliminate the chance of fly-by-nights winning the European Cup after playing a mere four ties (yes, you know who I’m talking about - Steau Bucharest in 1986!), a country with a population of 5 million can’t really hope to provide a consistent representative in The Big One.

But, after qualifying for the first official Champions League in 1992/93 with a great win over Denmark’s Lyngby and an epic home-and-away beating of the champions of England, Leeds United, Rangers have tonight maintained their awesome average of reaching the Champions League once every two years. When no club, no matter how huge, can actually win the newer, more legitimate version of the European Cup two season on the trot - Real Madrid, Man United, Milan and Juve have all won it but failed to retain it - this is some going by The Teds.

Campbell Ogilvie, our secretary, was right at the forefront of developing the competition with Uefa. David Murray ensured we maintained our profile with the people who matter by having Rangers play in the Champions League as many times as celtic EVER have before Martn O’Neill even arrived at parkhead. We’ve just come out the end of our biggest financial scare ever and - ping! - we’re back in the Champions League again, in style. Three different managers since 92/93 - every one gets us there: We are The people.

Actually winning the whole competition? Well, we were the first Britsih club to compete in it and we came within a goal of making the final in that virgin season. No one expected us to get so close then - no one expects us to even make the knock-out stages this season. But Rangers fans DEMAND that we get our club’s name up in lights and get our club’s finances dipped in the Uefa honey pot as often as possible - once again, it’s job done and, once again, it’s been a smashing night for Rangers fans.

What was meant to be a no-win game turned into a lovely, lovely evening. Temuri Ketsbaia rattled our post with a smashing shot in the 13th minute but that was as unlucky as we got. There was no away goal conceded - The Rangers kept a clean sheet at home and that’s always beautiful to see. But nothing can be as beautiful as the performance put in by the new deity on Govan, Mr Dado Prso. (do you know how difficult it is to type when you’re bowing at the same time?!)

Thomas Buffel wasn’t far behind the big Croat forward in terms of heroism: At last, Tommy has really come onto a game - in games where we need him: Playing as a deep-lying striker seems to suit him best and he’s not just creating, he’ scoring vital goals: The clincher against celtic on Saturday and then the opener tonight. Just as the first half seemed to be stretching on longer than it should, the Belgian sweetie powered away and wide from the box with his electric pace and stretched out a cultured leg to hook a belting lob over the visiting Cypriot goalkeeper. The ball arced and dipped and snuggled into the far corner of the goal. We were all but in tomorow’s Monagasque draw.

Barry Ferguson, who left us only after bossing us into our last Champions League qualification on the fields of Copenhagen, did that bossng even more sublimely tonight. He is Mr Rangers and he’s even better at it for his time in Lancashire. Once a promising boy - now a brilliant man.

But there could only be one man who sealed this win. Dado - the man who opened the scoring in that same derby on Saturday, with a goal which is up for being voted best goal on Eurosport’s Eurogoals! - was hearing his name chanted all round The Brox before we’d even taken the lead tonight. He’s carrying a knee injury - he looks as though he’s sometimes carrying all his team-mates and 50,0000 Gers punters. The man is actually a God.

Work-rate, determination, skill, artistry - passion. Dado alone is worth the top-up money on your Smartcard. This guy played in the 2003 Chamions League final and, on displays like tonight’s - which is the ONLY kind of display Dado EVER gives - the final is the only stage worthy of him.

We needed a second goal to make it safe and into the second half, Dado (ALL BOW!) ducked and weaved and ran and dribbled round many a determined Cypriot defender til a curved path opened up before him. He leaned back, stroked that ball and watched as it sailed around that goalie and into the far corner of that Copland Road net. He just stood there, arms raised, right below me, as full of emotion as the stands and soaking up the adulation he reciprocates with every chavce he gets.

Reigning league champions, Celtic defeated on Saturday and below us in the league as they free-fall on and off thr pitch - and now we’re back in the Champions League too, representing Scotland on our tod: Prso sealed the moment we came full circle to the complete magnificemce of the glory days: Rangers are back in every aspect of the Walter Smith or early Dick Advocaat reign; We all go to work tomorrow knowing once again our team is actually making real on the pitch what we always feel about our club: That We’re SIMPLY THE BEST. Only Dado Prso or Barry Ferguson should have scored the goal which offically gave us all this back: Standing ovation and beltin chorus of “There’s only one Dado Prso” when Big Eck took him off.

Big Eck - Alex McLeish: He’s now equaled the minimum of two Champions League qualifications of every Rangers manager in office since the Champions League began. Two league titles and twice taking us into the biggest competition on the planet? Did we really believe he could achieve that when he took over less than four years ago? Okay, maybe the two Scottish Cups and three League Cups, yeah, but so much else in such a short space of time with so little money??

Maybe he isn’t the man to take us to the next level but who ever thought he’d take us to this level? I know I didn’t.
And - hey! - he’s just earned himself six games against Europe’s elite. No other Rangers manager has got us through the group stage. Big Eck’s just bought himself a ticket to that raffle: If he can reach that next level, immortality awaits.

Who do you want in the draw? I want Real Madrid or Barcelona - that’s for sure. And I want the rest to be as big and galmorous as possible. If we do have to get thumped, I’d rather it was by an Inter or a Juve than a Lens or a Lyon. And if we do have to qualify for theknock-out stages, I would also want it to have been achieved against an Inter or a Juve rather than …

I want history, money AND glamour wrapping istelf round The Gers once again.

Whoever we get - you guys and gals deserve them! You deserve the bling-bling of wat da Champions League bring. Because, once again, we were WONDERFUL tonight. There’s something extra special going on in the stands this season: The celebrations at the Livvy flag-raiser were genuinely emotional - not just a polite picnic. The pandemonium we created before a ball was even kicked on Saturday left the hooped hordes in the Broomloan quieter than I think I’ve ever (not) heard them and more subdued than I’ve ever seen them at the start of an Old Firm game. And tonight, from the observation of the minute’s silence for the Cypriots who tragically died in the recent air crash, to the raising of the roof even before Buffel scored, us Bears and Beartettes were once again Pierre-Fanfan-tastic.

And we got a big, fat, Bovril of a night as a result. We were chunky Kitkat - we were a Yorkie, we were a stakebake from Greggs the bakers: It wasn’t subtle and it wasn’t as cosmopolitan as yer Real Madrids and Juventuses would have it but it was damned tasty and I enjoyed it immensely. Too many qualifiers are bad for your constitution but when ye don’t choke on them ye can look forward to the hote cuisine they serve on that top table.

Waterreus kept the Red and Black socks on but he was the only one. Love the Blue shots with the Blue top but please retain the Red and Black socks when we can, Gers. When we make history on the continent I want everyone to know that we’ve been making history for 13 decades.

Europe, here we come once again. S’good to be home.