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Thousands of Rangers fans will descend on Seville next week as Gio van Bronckhorst’s side take on Eintracht Frankfurt in the final of the Europa League.
The showpiece final will be played at Sevilla’s home ground, the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, which the Gers played at back in December of 2009 in a 1-0 defeat in the Champions League.
With a capacity of just 43,000, it’s smaller than Ibrox and La Cartuja, the other football stadium in Seville (along with Real Betis’ Benito Villamarín), which played host to the 2003 UEFA Cup final between Celtic and Porto.
As passports get dug out drawers and suncream stuck into suitcases, we though we’d draw together the snippets of news coming out of Seville itself about the final and Rangers fans’ arrival.
READ MORE: John Lundstram’s Rangers form earns Celtic captain Scott Brown comparison
It’s gonna be hot
Temperatures in the Andalucian city are predicted to be warmer than normal over the next two weeks – if it isn’t warm enough already for Scots – as a result of a subtropical air mass.
The mercury looks set to rise to over 35C during the daytime, and not drop below 17C at nighttime, meaning it will be most definitely Taps Aff weather for Rangers fans who make the journey to the city for the game.
Even local paper Diario De Sevilla are warning residents to “cool off and seek shade”.
There’s a fan zone … but with no screens
Reports have surfaced that the aforementioned La Cartuja stadium could swing open its doors to accommodate some of the thousands of fans heading to the city for the final – with big screens in place to watch the match.
One thing that looks for sure is that a fan zone will be set up for both Gers fans and Eintracht Frankfurt fans in the majestic Plaza de España, the most famous square in Seville, located around a 30 minute walk away from the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.
This was confirmed by Seville’s own George Bowie, radio DJ Sergio Blazquez, who tweeted that he will be spinning some tracks at it. It’s also worth noting he said there will be no screens at the fan zone “for the moment.”
The Gers have a good omen
Rangers fans will be hoping they can secure the win over an Eintracht Frankfurt side that has beaten both Barcelona and West Ham away from home on their way to the final, and they might have a wee omen that could send them to glory.
That’s because Rangers – and not Frankfurt – are represented in the gigantic mosaic that you can find on the walls of the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán stadium.
The work of Andalucian artist Santiago del Campo to tie in with the stadium’s role as a host ground for the 1982 World Cup, it’s regarded as a ‘symbol of friendship and fraternity in the world of sport’, and features the club crests of teams from across the globe such as Arsenal, Milan, Santos and of course, Rangers, represented with a “GR” for Glasgow Rangers.
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Jock Wallace was once the Sheriff of Sevilla
If the Rangers crest on the stadium isn’t enough of a good wee omen, perhaps we can add that iconic ex-Rangers boss Jock Wallace was once the Sheriff of Sevilla.
Wallace managed Sevilla for a season back in 1986/1987, becoming the first Scottish boss to manage in La Liga.
Bizarrely, his move to manage out in Sevilla was engineered by a Spanish restaurant owner in Leicester of all people. It didn’t all go to plan for Jock, with a run of less than impressive results seeing home fans chanting for his head, replacing ‘Mister Wallace’ (‘Mister’ being their term for boss) with Mister ‘Vayase’ (‘Please Leave’) – in shades of Paul Le Guen’s ‘Please Leave Govan’ stick.
Wallace was in charge for 44 games, winning 14, drawing 11 and losing 19. Figures that don’t make for great reading when you compare his win percentage (31.82%) with Sevilla, in comparison to what he achieved during his first stint as Rangers manager (65.26%) between 1972 and 1978.
That’s not to say the club didn’t have an affection for his stint there, as evidenced by the fact Sevilla invited his family to be guests of honour at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán when Rangers visited the stadium in the Champions League back in December of 2009.
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