Rangers in battle for credibility

Assuming the desperate weather in England does not transfer itself north across the border, Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, will tonight stage one of the most important matches in the modern history of Rangers. It will also be of some significance to Scottish football as a whole.

In terms of European football, the problem for both Rangers and the Scottish Premier League is one of a credibility deficit. Victory tonight against Monaco, and three points, would automatically take Rangers into the next phase of the Champions League for the first time since the new format was created, and would go a long way to erasing the external scepticism surrounding both club and country.

It would also, as far as Rangers are concerned, represent a huge financial bonus in these days when the economic imperative is so dominant in football.

Yet it was notable to hear yesterday that manager Dick Advocaat was stressing the prestige value alongside money which triumph tonight would bring. Advocaat knows that the next time he needs to visit the transfer market his task of persuading quality players to uproot to Glasgow will be much easier if he can show evidence of Rangers' development into a genuine European force under his management.

Advocaat has had much praise since succeeding Walter Smith, but the Rangers transformation is not complete and failure tonight would leave Advocaat open to criticism. Thirteen points behind Celtic in the league, and 10 behind Hibernian, leaves Advocaat without present domestic success with which to distract detractors. And while he has a legitimate excuse due to Rangers' injury situation - the established midfield quartet of Barry Ferguson, Jorg Albertz, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Claudio Reyna all missed the 0-3 home defeat by Kilmarnock for instance - Advocaat's seven summer purchases should have offered better cover than they have done.

Van Bronckhorst, the man who scored in Monte Carlo when Rangers won 1-0, is back in Holland and definitely misses tonight. Reyna is another certain non-starter, and with Bert Konterman suspended, Advocaat admitted that he might "gamble" with a couple of his selections, even though a draw could be enough. Ronald de Boer should return and Michael Mols may be risked up front.

But Monaco have worries of their own. The captain, Martin Djetou, is suspended, and for a team that does not travel well - they have lost at Sturm Graz and Galatasaray already in the group - the postponement of yesterday's flight because of the weather does not augur well.

Meanwhile, Arsenal, already guaranteed Group B winners, play Shakhtar Donetsk, though the players did not relish the 3,500mile round trip to Ukraine.

Arsene Wenger, who has left seven first-team regulars behind, said: "Frankly they were not too keen to go. "It is a long flight and we are already through, so nobody was keen to travel. But they do it because it is their job. If we played the same game at Luton everyone would want to play."

Lazio, who have also qualified from this group, are away to Sparta Prague.