Ahead of the Europa League clash at Ibrox, Red Star Belgrade are on a run of 16 competitive games unbeaten, including seven consecutive wins.
That is a commendable record whatever the level but there is a caveat which comes in the form of the standard of the Serbian Superleague as many would argue there is an even greater drop off in the levels between Partizan and Red Star against the rest of the league more than the gap between the Old Firm and the rest in Scotland’s top flight.
A very similar 20 point gap appears between the second and third placed sides in both leagues.
Last weekend, Red Star comfortably defeated Novi Pazar with a scoreline of 5-0.
At first glance, it points to a significant threat from Thursday’s visitors to Ibrox and whilst they are a very capable side on a similar level to Rangers, their domestic opposition has to be taken into account.
Below is the goals and highlights from that game wheere you can see for yourself just how poor some of the defending was from Novi Pazar, especially so early in the game.
In freezing conditions in Belgrade, it was very noticeable how sparsely populated the Rajko Mitic Stadium was – this is a regular feature outside of the massive Belgrade derby and important European games.
A celebration of the fans in the Delije ultras north end of the stadium saw a fireworks display late in the second half whilst the game was still underway. By that stage, the game on the pitch was already long gone as a contest and the rest of the game was played out as a damp squib.
Red Star know how to win, they have pedigree at home and a decent record in Europe this season but they are not to be feared, especially at Ibrox with Rangers on the front foot.