Rangers face an uphill task when Malmo visit Ibrox on Tuesday night with the sole purpose being overturning the 2-1 deficit from the first leg, and in turn, guaranteeing the club millions in the process.
One former Gers star who faced the very best in the Champions League is ex-skipper David Weir who has backed Steven Gerrard’s men to get the job done with 50,000 fans backing them with the riches on offer way down the list of their motivational priorities, as told to The Sunday Post:
“Steven and the players have plenty of experience, but they are up against a good team. Malmo showed they are not to be underestimated in any shape or form.
“But there is so much at stake.
“Yes, financially, it’s a massive lift for the football club, and the millions and millions of pounds on offer for qualification is significant.
“But, believe me, that doesn’t come into the minds of the players. The money is not their motivation.
“They are only thinking about the prestige of playing in the Champions League.”
For the vast majority of the Rangers squad, the only chance they will ever get to play in Europe’s elite competition is with us, yes, they might move on to bigger leagues but they won’t get the same exposure to the Champions League, playing against the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is an opportunity that doesn’t come around very often – that Weir himself played into his 40s and only faced Messi twice paints it’s own picture.
The other main motivational factor should be that if they can beat Malmo, they will – at least – be playing in the group stages of the Europa League, a competition that has gone from strength to strength since UEFA awarded the winners a place in the Champions League, it’s not unfair to suggest that if they can “empty the tank” that the rewards would be worth it.
We have a manager who is known world-wide for a game changing performance in the 2005 final, if there is one person who can make the players truly believe what is at stake tomorrow and that they can make it through, it has to be him.