Right. Let's just get it out of the way.
For Rangers, tonights Champions League Group G fixture against the Romanians from Unirea Urziceni is a make or break game. It's a gala day, a Cup final, the biggest fixture of the year and simply a must-win game.
With Rangers languishing at the bottom of the table, one point behind VfB Stuttgart, Walter Smith and everyone at Rangers knows that this game simply has to be won if the club have any real hope of progressing out of the group stages.
Going on past performances, you'd have to be concerned. The 4-1 demolition was for the most part down to some pretty bad luck (three own goals), but nevertheless you'd expect a superior side (on paper at least), playing at home against what is considered to be the whipping boys of the group to do a little better.
Much as been written and spoken about that game in recent weeks, so I wont labour the point by repeating it here.
What is important, aside from the much needed morale and reputation boost a win will give, is that Rangers don't drop off the pace and put at risk their chance of getting out of the group, a chance currently rated by many to be somewhere between 'hee-haw' and 'none'.
It's not all gloom though. A win for Rangers tonight, coupled with a defeat of VfB Stuttgart away to Sevilla will put Walter Smith's team back into 3rd place, level with Urinea, or, assuming Rangers win by 3 or more goals, 2nd place - and 2nd place is good enough to get you into the knock-out stages.
Rangers showed that they're capable of much more in Europe, with a reasonably solid display against Sevilla for the first hour or so and did well against a stubborn VfB Stuttgart side to earn a draw. A win tonight will put the team back in contention, and sets up a nice game with the Germans in a few weeks time where Rangers can put themselves in pole position in 2nd place.
Aside from the morale and reputation boost, the other reason this result is so important is the financial rewards qualification to the group stages and beyond might mean.
For a team like Rangers, whose financial difficulties have been all over the media of late, the €600k a win tonight would earn them is certainly welcome, but it's the other dangling carrots namely the €2m and €3m to be earned respectively for a quarter and semi-final place, with €7m as the ultimate prize for the winner.
Now, we're not suggesting for one minute that Rangers will get that far, all much needed revenue to keep the banks at bay for a little longer for sure.
Since Unirea's win over Rangers, they've slipped down the table into 7th place, but the Romanian league is so tight at the minute that 2 points seperate first from seventh, having lost two games in their last five.
Rangers are currently third in the SPL, one point behind Hibernian and four behind leaders Celtic. Their game on Sunday against Dundee United was abandonded after the break due a waterlogged pitch. Rangers where 1-0 ahead at the time thanks to a Stephen Davis goal - the game will be replayed on 15th December.
Rangers go into the game without Madjid Bougherra, Pedro Mended, Kirk Broadfoot and Maurice Edu, but with Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller both available, Smith will have throw caution to the wind and go hell-for-leather to get the three points everyone at Rangers, from the supporters to the players, and from the manager to the board and the bank (who are pretty much the same thing these days) so desperately needs.
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