Walter Smith's Rangers tonight face Osasuna in the UEFA Cup Round of 16 return leg, fresh off the back of a 1-0 away win over arch-rivals and SPL leaders Celtic. One incredible season apart, when they despatched Leeds United to become one of the first eight teams to compete in the inaugural Champions League in 1992, and only missed out on the final itself on the last night of group matches, Rangers were always out of Europe by Christmas. Which is why events of this past week, and tonight, will be regarded with even greater significance by many fans of the club.

For just three days before Sunday's Old Firm victory , Rangers produced a performance in the first leg against Osasuna which was ignominious, to say the least. Had it not been for a last-minute goal by Brahim Hemdani, the tie would be all but over, with the Spanish side having breached Rangers' defence in the first half. And as fateful as the subsequent victory at Celtic Park might be viewed, some would regard last Thursday's disappointing performance under Smith's custodianship as inevitable as well.

One could almost say, albeit crudely, that when Smith succeeded the outgoing Paul Le Guen in the first week of January, when the Frenchman left the club by mutual consent, that they swapped a coach who could be trusted in Europe, for one who could be trusted in Scotland.

For Le Guen's record, short as his tenure was in Scotland, was fairly impressive in Europe. Rangers became both the first Scottish club in history to win a competitive match on Italian soil, and the first to qualify from the group stages of the new-format UEFA Cup. Smith has managed Rangers, with almost the same squad of players he inherited, for three UEFA Cup matches this term, with mixed results, and many fans remain unconvinced that he can fulfil the club's European ambitions.

At one end of the broad spectrum of opinion occupied by Rangers fans there seems to be those who wish to see the Ibrox club progress at a European level and develop as an international football brand, while at the other there are those whose primary goal is winning domestically and beating Celtic to the title each season. Those who look to the long-term future of the club, and those who demand immediate success. And those, perhaps, who view Rangers as a football club, and those who perceive the club as something more like an institution.

Smith's Rangers go in to tonight's match with more than just a potential UEFA Cup quarter-final place at stake. He has the chance to fully reunite and galvanise a support that is still in the throes of much soul-searching following this season's tumultuous events at the club, and to cancel any doubts that some may harbour regarding his return to Ibrox. One thing is certain. All Rangers fans will hope he can do so.