ALLY McCOIST may have failed to keep Rangers in Europe for long this season, but his staggering record in the Scottish Premier League since taking over from Walter Smith has firmly focused the continent's attention on Ibrox.
Rangers’ remarkable unbeaten record in the league has put McCoist’s team out in front of just about every European rival and when the Ibrox manager puts his own record next to the work put in by Smith last season, the only club that can boast a better unbeaten record in European league football is FC Porto.
The Portuguese champions have amassed a remarkable 49 games without defeat, stretching back to February when they lost 3-0 to Sporting Lisbon, but Rangers are easily the next best top-flight side on the continent with a 21-game unbeaten run.
The last time Rangers lost in the SPL was on April 2 when Dundee United won 3-2 at Ibrox and, with a home game tomorrow against St Johnstone – who have not won a league match in Govan since the 1970s – McCoist’s men seem certain to make that 22 games unbeaten against his old team.
When Rangers exited the Champions League and the Europa League at the qualifying hurdles to Malmo and Maribor respectively, McCoist was left with the domestic scene to make his mark upon. He has done that emphatically.
Rangers can also boast a better record than the best unbeaten sides in the Barclays Premier League, where Newcastle United protect the longest record with just 14 games since they lost at Liverpool in May. Current leaders Manchester City may have dropped fewer points than Rangers this term, with just one draw in their 11 games, but McCoist’s men have racked up more wins with 12 victories out of 14 SPL games.
The only time the SPL leaders have not won this season was on the opening day of the campaign in a 1-1 draw with Hearts – and then another 1-1 draw with St Mirren at Ibrox last month. The closest European top-flight side to Rangers are Serbian leaders FK Radnicki, who have posted a 20-game unbeaten run and, like Rangers, also lost last April.
That was the same month that Champions League winners Barcelona last tasted defeat in La Liga, but Pep Guardiola’s men only have a 15-game unbeaten run and have drawn four times already this season, while current Spanish league leaders, Real Madrid, have already lost once this season.
In Greece and Italy, the best unbeaten runs are shared by Panathinaikos and Juventus with ten games each while Dynamo Kiev are the best in Ukraine with a 15-game unbeaten run.
Even the side with the meanest defence in Europe cannot match Rangers. Bayern Munich have conceded just four goals in the Bundesliga this term, but already the German league leaders have lost twice. Rangers have lost six SPL goals in this campaign – better than Real Madrid and Manchester City.
They have also dropped fewer points this term than Porto, who have drawn three times.
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