The Rangers omen that has European Cup Winners Cup hero convinced of Europa League glory

Fifty years ago this month, Rangers faced a German giant in a European semi-final before going on to win the Final in Spain.

Derek Parlane believes if that’s not an omen for the current Ibrox squad to pack in the kit hamper as they head for Leipzig this week, then nothing is.

The former Rangers striker even told Giovanni van Bronckhorst ’s men the same thing at their Player of the Year awards night on Sunday.

Parlane was one of the guests, an invitation befitting of an Ibrox great who played such a pivotal role in getting the Ibrox club to the European Cup Winners’ Cup Final in Barcelona on May 24, 1972.

He didn’t play against Moscow Dynamo, but a month earlier, manager Willie Waddell plucked the 18-year-old from obscurity and made him an overnight sensation.

Rangers, having drawn 1-1 in the first leg against the star-studded Bayern Munich side, who would go on to win the European Cup three years in a row from 1974, finished the job in front of 80,000 in Govan. Parlane scored the second goal in the 2-0 win he still regards as the finest result in their history.

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“There’s no doubt beating Bayern was the best result we’ve ever had,” Parlane told Record Sport yesterday.

“I know the trophy was