How Rangers lined up last time Scottish giants appeared in European final against Zenit in Manchester chaos in 2008
RANGERS are in action in their first European final since 2008 tonight as they face Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final.
The current crop including James Tavernier, Joe Aribo and Scott Arfield will take to the field in Seville aiming to write their names into Rangers folklore.
Managed by the late Walter Smith in 2008, Rangers went on a similarly fairytale-like run to the Uefa Cup final.
The Scottish side overcame the likes of Werder Bremen, Sporting Lisbon and Fiorentina on the way to the final, hosted at the Etihad.
Amazingly, two of Smith's starting XI from the 2008 showpiece occasion are also likely to start tonight.
Goalkeeper Allan McGregor, now 40, was between the sticks against Zenit.
Read More Football Stories
Watch Rangers vs Frankfurt in the Europa League final without paying a penny
Frankfurt v Rangers: Get Frankfurt at 30/1 or Gers at 40/1 to win Europa League
While midfielder Steven Davis was fielded in an advanced attacking role.
Veteran David Weir, now 52, started at centre-back alongside Spaniard and future Aston Villa, Sunderland and Norwich ace Carlos Cuellar.
Bosnian Sasa Papac was at left-back while Kirk Broadfoot, who spent this season at Inverness, was at right-back.
Brahim Hemdani, who played more games in Europe that season than in the league, shielded the back four.
Most read in Football
FAN SHAME 
Sheff Utd's Sharp slams 'scumbag' after vicious attack by Forest pitch invader
Blackpool captain deletes homophobic tweets after Jake Daniels comes out
Messi 'to join Beckham's Inter Miami in 2023 and buy 35 percent of franchise'
Liverpool 'back in Kylian Mbappe transfer race as Real Madrid talks stall'
FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS – BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS
Skipper Barry Ferguson manned the engine room of the midfield alongside Kevin Thomson.
Amazingly, defender Steven Whittaker was deployed on the right flank, while Davis was on the left.
Veteran forward Jean-Claude Darcheville was selected up top.
In Zenit, the Gers came up against a seriously good side.
The Russians battered Bayern Munich 4-0 in their semi-final home leg – with the likes of Andrey Arshavin and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk thriving.
Rangers managed to keep it at 0-0 until the 72nd minute, when Russian international Igor Denisov finally broke the deadlock.
Smith called on Nacho Novo, Lee McCulloch and Kris Boyd from his bench.
But the Glaswegians couldn't conjure an equaliser, with Konstantin Zyryanov adding a second in stoppage time to cap off a 2-0 win.
The occasion was marred by chaos in Manchester city centre, in which riots ensued.
Source: Read Full Article