SCOTTISH FOOTBALL has certainly seen somewhat of a mini revival in the last few weeks, undoubtedly shocking many people south of the border.
Scotland’s first major revelation occurred in last month’s European qualifiers where they beat France 1-0 on French soil. This result was enormous, capping a fine campaign so far for the Scots who now lead Group B completing the double over France, which surprised many.
Following on from that result were three more triumphs in Europe when Celtic won at home to AC Milan, Rangers defeated Lyon away and Aberdeen won on away goals in the UEFA Cup. This is certainly a turnaround of fortunes for Scottish clubs, who are not used to European success. Scotland manager Walter Smith has suggested that this is because in the recent past, a younger generation of Scottish talent has been exposed to high-level competition earlier than their predecessors. Perhaps we are now seeing the benefit in both domestic and international competition.
Rangers, put in the Champions League ‘group of death’ alongside Stuttgart and Barcelona, won 3-0 away at Lyon. It will still be difficult for Rangers to progress from their group, but they now have an impressive two wins out of two.
Such a comprehensive 3-0 victory is no mean feat given that Lyon have won the French league six times in a row and reached the Champions League quarter-finals, so all credit to Rangers for simply keeping a clean sheet. Next up is a double-header against Barcelona; formidable opponents indeed, but there has never been a better time to be optimistic.
Celtic arguably got the result of the week following their 2-1 win against European champions AC Milan. McDonald scored a late winner to give Celtic a massive boost going into their next match against Benfica after which they might be able to harbour hopes of qualification.
Despite drawing 1-1 against Dnipro of Ukraine, Aberdeen sneaked through on away goals into the group stages of the UEFA Cup. This capped a tremendous week for Scottish football, where it is hoped the clubs can kick on and develop some consistency in the major competitions.
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