There’s a nice symmetry with being drawn against either Malmo or Helsinki in the Champions League, if the Swedish side make it through that is.
Either way we’ll be facing a Gers former side with Filip Helander facing his first senior club or Alfredo Morelos lining up against the team that gave him his break in European football.
It’s a cliché, but a cliché for a reason, that there are no easy ties in the Champions League and this draw is no different but if Malmo see off the Fins it would see us return to our last game in Europe’s elite competition.
Under Ally McCoist the Swede’s knocked us out in the qualifying stages – 2-1 on aggregate – some ten years ago, almost to the day by the time the fixture comes around and for all that just Allan McGregor and Steven Davis are the only remaining members of that squad, it would represent a great chance to right a few wrongs.
Malmo are a good side but we have beaten similar and stronger opposition in the Europa League during Steven Gerrard’s tenure as manager and – without wanting to jinx things – it could be more beneficial to have a 50/50 tie first up rather than one that we would be expected to win or one that had a more unknown element to it.
It feels like we are nearly there in terms of our recovery, winning the league was a huge step, winning domestic cups and qualifying for the group stages of the Champions League should be next and finally put to bed the ghosts of ten years ago.