Rangers received a ringside view of Man Utd's depth of despair in the form of a £35m misfit – Keith Jackson

In some ways, it all feels a little bit sad.

Yes, there will be an inevitable charge of excitement when these teams come out of the tunnel together at kick-off time tomorrow night. And it may even reach a euphoric climax for one of them as they hunt down a place in the next stage of this season’s Europa League. But these moments have grown more and more fleeting for both over the years.

Two of Britain’s biggest sporting institutions, now grappling with a very different status. Living very different lives from the ones they grew so used to not all that very long ago. Manchester United and Rangers may still carry their history with considerable pride. But when they square up to one another tomorrow night at Old Trafford, both of these once mighty clubs will be clinging on to their pasts rather than embracing the here and the now of it all.

This, after all, just might be the worst United side in history according to recently appointed manager Ruben Amorim, who is swimming against the tide in an attempt to prove that he’s not dragging the English giants even deeper into decline. And he’s about to pit his managerial wits against a Rangers boss who has been struggling to keep his own head above water for what feels like the best part of another fairly fruitless, mostly joyless year at Ibrox.

This is not how it used to be for these clubs who were operating a great deal closer to the peak of their powers the last time they came together in European competition and on this very hallowed stage, back in September 2010. With Sir Alex Ferguson nearing the end of his trophy laden 27 years in charge of the English giants and close friend Walter Smith soon to call time on his own spectacular second term in office at Rangers, both clubs