UEFA Champions League: Manchester United look to settle a score with the Rangers
Football fans can be quite fickle sometimes. If logic is dismissed from their passionate heads, ugly things come to the fore front. When Manchester United won the UEFA Champions League in the 2007-2008 season after defeating Chelsea F.C in the final match of the tournament on penalties, the red devils expected to parade their double trophy in the streets of Manchester in front of their fans as a celebratory gesture.
However, United were denied this opportunity due to some of the heinous acts that were committed by Rangers fans present in the city of Manchester. One might question; how were Rangers fans found in Manchester when the Scottish club itself is based in Glasgow in Scotland. Well, there is quite an easy explanation to that. The year that United played in that monumental final against Chelsea in the Champions League final, Rangers also played in a final of their own.
The Scottish giants played against Zenit Saint. Petersburg in the UEFA Cup final which was held at the Eastland’s stadium in Manchester, a match that was eventually won by Zenit after putting two goals past the Rangers defence without conceding a reply. What followed afterwards were of course reflections of football fans in Britain. Typical drunk and violent fans, saddened by their team’s inglorious display in the UEFA Cup final decided to take their frustrations out on city owned property and local property such as shops and cars parked in the city centre.
One would be naive to think that this was the only time, these fans acted in this specific way. In 2009, particularly in the month of August, Rangers travelled to mainland England to play Portsmouth in a friendly match. Portsmouth ended up as eventual winners of the match but Ranger’s supporters thought that it was appropriate to indulge in some unnecessary aggression yet again due to their team’s loss. The scenes of pathetic hooliganism included fans throwing broken glass pieces at each other as well as destroying public belongings.
These events of disgraceful gestures prompted the Manchester city council to advise Manchester United against their trophy parade celebration and thus the parade eventually never took place. The fact remains that Rangers fans not only brought ugliness to the beautiful game but played a vital role in taking away the right of Manchester United to celebrate their UEFA Champions League triumph.
Lately Rangers and Manchester United were drawn into the same UEFA Champions’ League group. Something that United’s fans were looking forward to before the draw even took place. Now revenge is on the cards for the red devils as they will seek to demolish Ranger’s hopes of progression into the round of sixteen of the UEFA Champions League. A lot has been said after it was revealed that United will play against Rangers on the 14th of September at Old Trafford, in their first match of the group stages. United will also travel to Glasgow to play Rangers in the away fixture at Ibrox Stadium.
There is also the little matter of Sir Alex Ferguson supporting Glasgow Rangers during his more youthful days as a football fan rather than a professional player or a manager. Fergie also played for the Rangers, albeit for a short period of time as a striker but he was not utilized properly by the Scottish champions. Added to this mix of high octane is the fact that the current Rangers manager Walter Smith was actually Ferguson’s assistant at Old Trafford when the red devils won the F.A Cup in 2004.
Walter and Ferguson have both told the press already that they are looking forward to the encounter. Last time these two teams faced each other in the UEFA Champions League, United ran out eventual winners by three goals to nil at Old Trafford in November of 2003. Rangers’ chief executive Martin Barin has already tried to play as the peacemaker for Smith’s side by saying that there isn’t going to be any crowd trouble this time around by their fans. However, UEFA have already looked into sending a security official of their own to help the two British clubs come to terms with any possible scenario’s regarding public violence.
All is that is left now is for the Battle of Britain to commence, only this time there is no Germany, only Scotland and England.
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