Rangers and Celtic take on each other in the season’s first Old Firm Derby on the 2nd of October but after the recent results, everyone felt that the Light Blues had the upper hand in the derby.
While the Gers have steadily balanced their ship after the opening day draw vs Aberdeen, Celtic, on the other hand, have deteriorated with each passing performance.
The Hoops were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers earlier this week and that made Gerrard side the odds-on favourite to win the Old Firm Derby.
But it seems that now the Light Blues manager has a major headache before the high profile clash.
Rangers won their Europa League tie against Maribor this Thursday which means they will now take on Russian side FC Ufa in the playoffs.
And the schedule of these matches are such that it could directly impact the Old Firm Derby.
Rangers play the second leg of the tie in Russia and will only return to Glasgow 48 hours before the Old Firm Derby.
Gerrard in a very honest interview has revealed that facing Ufa is probably not the best thing days before the Celtic game and then he went on to add:
“No, it’s not. In an ideal situation, we’d have preferred the other team [Luxembourg side Progres Niederkorn, who lost to Ufa]. I’d be a liar if I didn’t say that. But the players have put so much commitment into getting where they are that I’m sure they’ll want to face the Russian team and give another good account of themselves.”
But the manager was quick to divert from the depressing tone and claimed that playing in Europe would be a huge bonus for the club as well as the players and that a league game vs Celtic must not be the sole focus of the entire season.
And we can’t agree more with the Rangers boss since getting in the Europa League will not only help the players but will also bring in a lot of revenue for the club.
So the only possible solution for the Light Blues is to try and wrap up the two-legged tie at Ibrox itself so that the manager can rest his first team players during the trip to Russia.
Read: Rangers management ready to fulfil Steven Gerrard’s wish before the end of August.
Read: Rangers manager hints at atleast two new signings that he wants to make by the end of August.
Read: Steven Gerrard provides an update on the sale of his star man.
