Italian legend admits Rangers ‘one of the hardest’ in Europe

We must admit we not only loved Alessandro Del Piero’s comments recently, but we appreciated the sincerity of them.

This is, of course, a Juventus and Italy legend, so he considers Napoli a rival side, and he had incredible words of praise for the Naples giants:

“What a fantastic victory that was at one of the hardest places in Europe to get a win.”

To see one of the most respected figures of all time in world football call Rangers and Ibrox one of the hardest grounds in Europe shows not only what a job Napoli actually did, but the respect Rangers had from last season’s incredible exploits at Ibrox in Europe.

He went on:

“Winning at Ibrox is doubly difficult so Napoli deserves enormous credit for doing that. It was a very hard game at Rangers but Napoli were excellent. They are the best team in Italy at the moment.”

This was just brutal truth from Del Piero – as a Juve legend he will hate seeing anyone else at the top of the Italian tree, and of course his old Turin stomping ground have completely fallen apart the past couple of seasons, with Milan taking the title last time and Napoli topping the table as things stand (Juve are well down in 8th).

But he was honest to say not only are Napoli the best in Italy at present, but that Rangers are one of the hardest grounds in Europe to go to and win.

Indeed, before Napoli, the last side from the continent to win in Govan were Lyon in September last year amid Steven Gerrard’s failing regime. Since then, it’s all wins or draws.

No wonder Del Piero was so gushing.