Rangers clutching at their last straw

Phil Shaw on the Champions' League action this evening

Rangers felt the full force of one of the likely European Cup winners in two four-goal thrashings by Juventus. Tonight, as the Scottish champions strive to maintain their mathematical chance of reaching the quarter-finals, it may be Blackburn's turn.

Group B, in which Ray Harford's side boast a solitary point and single goal from four matches, still looks the weakest in the Champions' League. However, their hosts, Spartak Moscow, have risen above the mediocrity, and are starting to be widely tipped to become the first Russian club to win a European trophy.

History, which shows that only Dynamo Kiev and Dynamo Tbilisi from the old Soviet Union have ever lifted so much as the Cup-Winners' Cup, is against Spartak. Nor, for once, did they win their domestic league last month, finishing third behind the first-time champions of Vladikavkaz and their Muscovite rivals, Dynamo. Their form in the Champions' League suggests they may have had higher priorities.

Harford has always argued that, with a modicum of luck, Blackburn could have beaten the Russians at Ewood Park in September. While dispassionate observers disagreed, the view received another airing yesterday from Graeme Le Saux. Spartak look good enough to go "a long way" in the competition, the England defender argued, though Blackburn had been "unlucky" to lose 1-0 last time.

The difference between the Spartak they will encounter and the version which previously made modest headway in Europe is that money from successive Champions' League adventures has enabled the coach, Oleg Romantsev, to bring Vasili Kulkov and Sergei Yuran home from Portugal. It has also helped him hold on to his captain, Viktor Onopko, who caught the eye of Everton's Joe Royle against Finland last week.

Blackburn's last chance of progress went when Alan Shearer hit Legia Warsaw's bar in the dying seconds a month ago. It would be pleasing none the less if, like Princess Diana, they declined to go quietly. Morale is high after the 7-0 rout of Nottingham Forest, although Lars Bohinen, who has given Harford's team fresh flexibility, is again ineligible.

Meanwhile, Rangers face Steaua Bucharest at Ibrox knowing that even a first win in Group C might only serve to delay the inevitable. They would still be relying on Juventus to beat Borussia Dortmund in Turin tonight, before having to win in Germany themselves on 6 December.

Alan McLaren, sent off when Rangers opened with a 1-0 defeat in Romania, returns after suspension. Walter Smith, who might have chosen to forgo a six-goal thriller against Celtic 72 hours before such an important game, must decide which foreigner to leave out from Brian Laudrup, Oleg Salenko, Gordan Petric and Paul Gascoigne. If it is Gazza, he may not belong to Glasgow much longer.