Throwback UEFA Cup Final proves match too far for Rangers

Last night's UEFA Cup Final was curiously reminiscent of the way European finals used to be. It harked back to a time before football was utterly dominated by money, with clubs from outside the biggest, richest Leagues able to get to the final. Of course, it's new money that is powering the resurgence of Russia's clubs, but Zenit St Petersburg lived up to the reputation of Eastern European clubs in the 80s and early 90s - mysterious, full of players unknown in Britain, and technically superior.

Interesting, too, that both clubs' line-ups would have qualified under Sepp Blatter's proposed 6+5 rule, designed to promote home-grown players instead of foreigners. Zenit, being owned by Gazprom and thus effecively a state-owned club, provide many of the players for the Russian national team, while Rangers have rediscovered how to buy Scottish after years of costly imports got them deeper and deeper into debt.

Rangers were also faithful to the traditional tactics employed by teams in finals - do everything not to lose a goal, and then try and win on penalties. In the old days, this was achieved through liberal use of the backpass to the keeper and cynical tackling from behind - both now outlawed.
Nowadays, it's done by giving one man the responsibility to attack, and instructing everyone else to defend in depth. Walter Smith - after teasing that he might employ a more adventurous line-up - was true to form, setting Rangers up to frustrate and disrupt at all costs.

This has been the plan throughout this campaign, and of course it has worked a treat - just so long as the opponents haven't scored. Last night, we got a chance to find out if there was a Plan B, and the answer was... no, not really.

Zenit finally made their breakthrough in the 72nd minute, and what followed next was bizarre. For the next 4 minutes, a suddenly silent stadium looked on as Smith made notes in his chair, deep in discussion with his assistants. The Rangers fans, who'd been so noisy throughout, had gone silent just when their team needed them most, but then they probably knew by then that the game was up. On the pitch, lacking any direction or encouragement from the dug out, the players looked very, very lost.

At long last, the reaction came, Smith sending on 3 strikers in quick succession to try and rescue the game. But he'd left it too late... Zenit, now full of confidence, mopped up everything with ease, and scored a decisive second goal in injury time. They deserved to win.

Sadly, the match was a reminder of earlier times for different reasons, too. As more and more footage comes out from last night's violence in Manchester city centre, it becomes less and less possible to blame the trouble on a few neds getting angry when one of the large tv screens failed. Hundreds of Rangers fans ran running battles with the coppers, throwing objects and doing much to undermine the "carnival" atmosphere that had been reported during the afternoon.

Few people in Scotland are surprised, sadly. The build up to the match had focused on the racist attitudes of the Russian fans, but the likelihood of trouble if Rangers lost was always there.

The truth, not often mentioned, is that not all Celtic fans behaved in exemplary fashion when they lost the UEFA Cup final in Seville in 2003. But, although there was some bad behaviour, there was little violence.

Today, Rangers should be basking in approval for their achievement in even reaching the final, if not the football they played to get there. Instead, the mindless thuggery of some fans is dominating the media attention.