Steven Gerrard and Rangers are back to reality….

It’s the day after the night before. Rangers’ European adventure is no more. But few of us at Ibrox Noise are genuinely gutted about the result last night.

We can’t speak for the whole fanbase, of course, but we have more of a sense of how well we actually did rather than the disappointment of failing to get to the last 32. Sure, it would have been nice, but what we achieved with a squad that was well below capable of doing much more was in itself absolutely outstanding.

To actually make it to the group stage itself was stunning, following four gruelling rounds of qualifying competition, and that alone made the club millions while gaining us a tonne of credibility globally. We’ve been damaged in that respect in recent years, so Rangers punching at what should be their weight against continental opponents was the kind of shot in the arm we needed.

But to not only make it to aforementioned group stage but actually genuinely compete against some very fine European teams in Spartak, Villarreal and Rapid was extraordinary. We had a squad assembled for around £15M total (Gerrard’s summer business only cost £10M) up against teams who had individual players who’d cost that or were worth that or more and we not only competed well but we matched these sides in places and even managed to beat them.

It says a lot for the progress Gerrard has made in a short space of time on the European front.

Domestically we know it’s a different ball game and it’s all very mixed, but if Rangers fans had been offered six points and a third place in Europe before a ball was kicked, few would have rejected it.

So, we are not going to cry too much about our exit, and it finally lets us get on with the serious business of mounting some sort of proper challenge in the league.

That’s our bread and butter – Europe was fun, it was an adventure, and frankly the team did us pretty proud overall.

But time to get back to reality now.