Rangers FC will take NK Osijek on Thursday in the second round of the Europa League qualifiers and the Gers fans will be hoping that their team can come back from Croatia with a sizeable lead.
The Light Blues won their first-round qualifiers against Macedonian side FC Shkupi with an aggregate scoreline of 2-0.
Osijek are a team based out of Eastern Croatia and play in the Prva Liga – the top tier of Croatian football. And their coach Zoran Zekic has revealed that one of his life’s biggest heroes is actually Rangers manager Steven Gerrard.
The 44-year-old manager has revealed that he started supporting Liverpool because of Ian Rush but soon it was Steven Gerrard who became his favourite.
He also revealed that he burst out in tears when after Gerrard’s infamous slip against Chelsea which cost the Reds their first ever Premier League title.
Zekic said: “I started supporting Liverpool because of Ian Rush initially and then my hero was Steven Gerrard.
“I literally adored the club for 15 years.
“Steven was a brilliant, awesome player. I absolutely loved him. I can only hope he’s not as good a manager as he was a player.
Rangers are a massive club but we're ready to end their Europa League dream warns Osijek boss https://t.co/evf3ERcJci pic.twitter.com/5g5oBlOP51
— Daily Record Sport (@Record_Sport) July 20, 2018
“I started supporting Liverpool because of Ian Rush initially and then my hero was Steven Gerrard.
“I literally adored the club for 15 years.
“Steven was a brilliant, awesome player. I absolutely loved him. I can only hope he’s not as good a manager as he was a player.
“For me, it’s a complete honour to lead a team against him.”
But while praising the former Liverpool midfielder, Zekic also made it clear that Osijek should not be taken lightly especially as they have already beaten a former Liverpool player.
The Osijek manager added: “Last year we faced Luzern in the Europa League who were coached by Markus Babbel and we beat them.
“Rangers are not the team of their celebrated past, but they still deserve a lot of respect and we will give them plenty of that.
“Our biggest problem is that we have a young strikeforce and we would have ideally wanted a more experienced team.
“But it will be great for our fans to have Steven Gerrard in our City Gardens Stadium. Last year it was PSV and it’s Rangers this year. It should be a fantastic spectacle.”
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Read: Former Celtic and Premier League star claims Gerrard might be a failure at Rangers this season.
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