Exact ten years have passed since the Scottish league title 54 and 55 of the Rangers. The Glasgow team he has had to wait just a decade to savor the honeys of triumph again. Between measures, a long and hard journey that led the team to re-founding and going through all the categories of Scottish football. Get the long-awaited trophy with Steven Gerrard as a coach. The Liverpool legend accepted, in his first experience as a professional coach, try to bring the Protestants back to glory and has succeeded.
On July 27, 2012, Rangers were admitted to the Scottish fourth division after being rejected by the clubs in the previous three. The Rangers declared bankruptcy and had to start practically from scratch. Nine years later, they are back to their rightful level and They have lifted the league finishing undefeated. That something that only he had done Celtic in 2017 and two other teams in the world: the Arsenal of the Invincible in 2004 and the Juventus in 2012.
The 'Gers' have finished leaders of the Scottish Premiership with 102 points in 38 games and they have taken 25 points ahead of Celtic, his eternal rival and habitual dominator of the competition. Champions of mathematical way on matchday 31, after their victory against Saint Mirren and Celtic's draw against Dundee United. On March 7 it was virtually assured, but in May they closed a perfect championship that has made history go down.
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Some legendary numbers and figures
Steven Gerrard took office in spring 2018 and signed a four-year contract with Rangers. At the beginning of that campaign, his team went 12 games undefeated and managed to beat Celtic for the first time since 2012. The English coach has built a competitive team and achieved record numbers.
Rangers have disputed 56 official matches this season and ended with a balance of 44 wins, 9 draws and only 3 losses; one in the League Cup against St. Mirren (3-2), another in the Europa League against Slavia Prague (0-2) and the last against St. Johnstone on penalties in the quarterfinals of the Scottish Cup . The Scottish team has scored 139 goals, has conceded 33, has left a clean sheet 34 times and has achieved the best numbers in the club's history in the domestic championship.
Precisely, that dominance in the league tournament has been amazing: the Scottish Premiership finished undefeated, achieving 102 points out of 114 possible and has taken 25 points from Celtic, second classified. In the 38 games they have played, Rangers have scored 92 goals and only conceded 13. That is, they averaged 2.42 goals per game and he conceded 0.34. In addition, they have left a clean sheet in a total of 26 games. They have the second player who has generated the most goals in the league (Tavernier, 21) and the top two assistants (Hagi, 10, and Tavernier, 9).
In addition, it has carried out a remarkable campaign in the Europa League. Rangers had to overcome three qualifiers (Lincoln, Willem II and Galatasaray) to reach the group stage. In that first round it was paired with Benfica, Standard de Liege and Lech Poznan in a group that was not easy at all. The 'Gers' finished leaders of the group with 14 points (4 wins and 2 draws) and left Benfica of Jorge Jesús in second position, with whom they starred in two interesting duels. In the sixteenth they beat Antwerp with two victories 3-4 and 5-2, while in the eighth they were eliminated by the Slavia from Prague, the other great revelation of the tournament.
A great team with individualities that make a difference
One of the great successes of Steven Gerrard in his time with Rangers it has been to make a competitive team capable of beating anyone. However, in that process he has been meeting players who have reached an extraordinary level.
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The most prominent has been James tavernier. The team captain has managed to finish off double figures for goals and assists since Gerrard came to Rangers. Despite being a right-back, his role in the team's offensive play is vital and contributes a differential point to set pieces, whether in fouls, corner kicks or penalties. Tavernier has added 19 goals and 16 assists in 46 games who has played this season and is the team's alma mater. A group that also thrives on the participation of Kemar roofe (18 goals and 3 assists), Ryan kent (13 and 15), Joe aribo (8 and 7) or Ianis Hagi (8 and 15), son of Gica hagi.
In the 4-3-3 of the Liverpool legend they have a key role Barisic and Tavernier in the wings, but the center of the field is very important to build the game and free up the top three from defensive work. That role is fulfilled to perfection Steven Davis, Aribo and Ryan Jack or Glen Kamara. However, it is impossible to think about the success of this team without Alfredo Morelos. The Colombian forward is the team's top scorer and an attacker capable of contributing much more than goals. His match against Antwerp was defined as his coach as “the best performance of the season” and has achieved 7 goals and 13 assists. The icing on the cake of a loving team has made history.