Uefa bigwig Pedro Pinto singled out Rangers for special praise today after he called Steven Gerrard’s men ‘talented’ during the UEL live draw for the group stage.

Speaking after pots 1 and 2 had been drawn, Pinto glossed over all the teams in pot 3, except Rangers, namedropping the Ibrox men specifically as a talented team, before the draw continued.

There’s no doubt Steven Gerrard has shaken Rangers’ reputation in Europe up – from fallen giants and the altercations with Uefa over fan chants and all that nonsense of yesteryear, Europe’s governing body and other teams are now reserving real credit for Rangers and what our manager has done.

Another convincing win against serious opposition last night helped the case further, and the Govan side are now being exalted among the best.

There’s little doubt Rangers are a pot 2 team these days, in all but co-efficient – we’ve matched and bested the best, and the authorities recognise it now.

Maybe we’ll move onto ‘multi-talented’ as well soon.

Let’s go.