“At this moment in time we are wounded - there is no doubt about it. There are probably one or two people out there enjoying it, maybe one or two people having a wee fly kick. I would suggest to them to give a right good kick just now because we will not be where we are for long.”

Ally McCoist’s emotive words in 2012, just weeks after Rangers went into administration, came to mind at time-up against RB Leipzig - on surely Ibrox’s greatest night.

The team had made it to the Europa League Final and fans were still singing long after the end - as they had throughout an epic game that pulsated from start to finish.

In the intervening years, the club had taken more ‘right good kickings’ than ‘sly ones’ if truth be told. Friends were in short supply and shysters had forced Rangers into administration then liquidation. The triumph against the German stars signalled an end to the darkest decade in 150 years.

Given the gulf in budgets between top countries and their poor cousins - like Scotland - qualifying from a European group isn’t a given. If it happens, it’s a bonus. And expecting to go beyond the first knockout round is not realistic. To then keep going to the final is unbelievable. The scale of such a feat can’t be exaggerated.

This was a special night and its significance was intuitively felt by everyone in the stadium. It wasn’t just about the joy of getting to Seville. It was more than that. Much more.

It somehow brought an end to that dreadful period of fear and uncertainty. The darkness had gone and a bright future beckoned. Every Bear felt it.

When the history of the club’s modern era is written, this game will be recorded with great significance. Not just for the heroic efforts of the players and coaching staff. Or the board and all those working behind the scenes to reach this moment. But for the fans who pushed their heroes on the pitch to an incredible result - and who had remained loyal throughout the grimmest of times.

In truth, this night belonged to them.

And there couldn’t have been a better reward for their unrelenting support than seeing the team go all the way to a European final.

The income from this remarkable run means the club is now on a sound financial footing - with the promise of a possible £90m over this season and next if the Europa League trophy comes back to Govan.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been rightly praised for his tactical nous in guiding Rangers through those tough ties. Again and again, he’s out-thought sides with huge budgets and the top players they can attract.

Readers of this site will know how vital this is, thanks to the brilliant analysis by Rangers Review writers who pore over every detail of games. Their fascinating deep dive work gives an insight into how football at the top level is studiously planned by the manager and his coaches and how they plot throughout a game to gain an advantage.

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High frequency positional data shows who controls space on the pitch and this information is used to dominate the important zones. The aim is to encourage off-ball actions that create the most ‘pitch control’ – finding and commanding spaces that will translate to the highest probability of scoring, entertaining and winning.

Van Bronckhorst is well versed in this and you can see him constantly scanning the whole pitch during games, working on tweaks that have to be made quickly.

Using space, finding it, exploiting it, choking it, is at the heart of all tactical thinking in football. But tactics alone don’t win games. There are other qualities involved and this Rangers side have them in abundance.

The players have astonishing stamina levels and are out-running the opposition deep into contests fought with almost savage intensity. There is also the mental toughness needed to withstand the constant pressure of getting over the line in massive fixtures.

Players aren’t robots, incapable of error. They have off days, spells of indifferent form. They tire, make mistakes. Are human. But this group have the bottle and fitness levels to perform to their best - time after time after time. They have shown the strength, character and steel to succeed - especially as they reached the serious end of a bruising campaign.

There has been an extraordinary level of togetherness, with everyone helping each other and finding that extra yard while opposition players are going back the way.

With a lot of injuries to key players throughout the season, the full squad has been used more than the manager would have liked but those coming in have performed well.

However, there are some who have been exceptional and one will bag a player of the season award. Several have been superb in spells - Joe Aribo up to the winter break, Alfredo Morelos before his season-ending injury, John Lundstram and Ryan Kent in current form.

But there are two outstanding candidates who have been at it throughout the whole season - skipper James Tavernier and Connor Goldson. Both have been immense and ever-presents - delivering constantly, leading by example, driving the team.

It’s easy to make persuasive cases for either. They are model professionals and it’s hard to split them but I’d go for Goldson. He’s been colossal for the last two campaigns and his long-range diagonal passing creates so many good chances.

But, of course, the season isn’t over. If Rangers triumph in Seville, all the players become legends. And that will be far more satisfying than any award.