Meet the Rangers fan and Benfica season-ticket holder

Derek chats with Rangers supporter and Benfica season-ticket holder Ian McAlister to look ahead to the Europa League last 16 clash.

Hello folks and of course as we build up to uh Thursday night’s a huge Europa League last 16 first leg Clash against Benfica uh I’m delighted to say I’m joined by someone who lives not too far away H from Lisbon and he’s a a Benfica season ticket holder a Rangers Fan as

Well so he’s going to give us a bit of insight into what we can expect when the two teams meet first of all Ian mallister how we doing good very very well thank you yeah good to good to be on yeah no it’s great to have you on uh

I’m hugely thankful to uh a mutual friend that we know Derek Curry for putting me in touch with your good self to give us a we bit of chat on on this game um in terms of I know you’re a ranger supporter H you’ve traveled a fair bit where does your your Rangers

Love come from uh I think coming from the west of Scotland that that’s it you know but I mean it’s actually next week’s a big one for me because uh this will be the first time I’ve actually seen Rangers in many years and I’m I’m taking my dad for the

Game as well so it’s a it’s a big a big event for us yeah fantastic stuff and uh of course living you’ve been just outside of Lisbon for uh 18 months am I right think you’ve been living there and and you and your wife have season

Tickets H for Benfica so um you know a fair bit about them how big a challenge is this going to be do you think um it’ll be a challenge but um I certainly think r ERS are in with with a good chance if you’d asked me a year ago it

Might have been different um a year ago Benfica were a very very good side but they lost I mean Fernandez who went to Chelsea yeah um and then they lost Gonzalo ramas to Paris and he was a 30 goal a season Striker who hasn’t been replaced um and they also lost I don’t

Know how much people follow European football but they lost the left back galdo to buer Leverkusen yeah who who was was who gave them such an option uh going forward so they’re still a good team but the The Replacements that have come in for the players that they lost

Aren’t possibly at the same level yeah and uh of course have you watched have you watched them not not in the flesh but you’ve watched strangers recently on television you keep up to date with what’s going on back home um well yeah basically I don’t see many

Live matches but um I watch sports scene yeah yeah yeah yeah and of course uh under the new manager Philip clont things have picked up I certainly wouldn’t have fancied rers against benf a few months ago but um theyve certainly picked up under the new manager of course great result against RI albertis

To top the group and uh now taking on Benfica of course the two teams met a few seasons ago Ian and I think Rangers let Benfica off the hook in the two games but um Rangers going up against Benfica what’s the sort of word over there in Portugal about coming up

Against Rangers I’d imagine they’ll be pretty confident of progressing um I think they’re pretty confident it’s funny I mean they’re only um if sporting win their game in hand sporting will be one point ahead at the top at the top of the league so Benfica are just behind

But there’s there’s a bit of dissatisfaction this season with the way that they’re playing um so I wouldn’t I wouldn’t say they’re overly confident how and how playing what what sort of dangers will Rangers need to be wey of do you think um they have a

Couple of to my mind a couple of outstanding players is a young midfielder Jean Nev uh he’s only 19 and they actually they brought him in as the replacement for Fernandez when he went to Chelsea yeah uh and he’s just he’s a box-to-box midfielder uh and he is a very very good

Player um he’ll probably be the next one to go uh and they also have a a very very good Center back called Antonio Silva and again he’s only about 20 um very good Defender good at bringing the ball out from the back and he’s a threat from set pieces and they also

Have Angel dearia um who’s who’s he’s not necessarily going to give them a full 90 minutes at Full Throttle but he’s still a very good player yeah yeah why do the fans feel then towards it I mean the coach Roger Schmid isn’t it the yeah the German guy there what what

What’s what’s the sort of how the B Benfica fans feeling towards him well they loved him a year ago yeah uh there’s been I would say there have been murmur of discontent this season um they’ve they’ve had results I mean they beat port at home they beat sporting at

Home but they’ve really struggled to score against good teams um Porto went down to 10 men Benfica scored very late uh sporting where a goal up went down to 10 men Benfica scored twice in injury time yeah and if you look at all the European games that they’ve played

They’ve really struggled to break good teams down this year uh there’s a lot of passing in front of teams without a lot of progress at times okay interesting and uh I mean the atmosphere that Rangers are going to be walking into when the last play there of course it

Was during the the co season so there was no uh support um but what sort of atmosphere awaits them do you think next week oh it be a good atmosphere it’s a great Stadium um it will be if it’s not absolutely sold out it’ll be close to sold out and it’s

65,000 yeah uh you’ve got to get there early enough to see the light show before the game it’s fantastic and uh they have they have an eagle that have e called Victoria who does the the lap of Honor before the game that’s all that’s good to see yeah was good ask if they

Still have that so that’s that’s good stuff uh yeah looking forward to it yeah she she flew away she flew away a few years ago got her back I mean there’s going to be thousands of Rangers fans making their way over to lesbon for the game um for

Those that are traveling maybe never been to that part of the world before you any sort of suggestions recommendations what they should be doing well I think um in certainly in terms of going for a drink um there’s an area down at the front um

The main the center of it all is called pink Street MH uh and that’s absolutely full of bars um and I mean you know you’re talking uh scores of bars around there um and lots of places to eat uh there’s also a good sports bar in that area called the couch and that’s

Where people from all over Europe go to watch uh the big matches yeah and then if if people are interested in sightseeing it’s it’s just a great City to walk around yeah um and the best Viewpoint is to go up to the castle um and there’s a huge Square in the center called

Praderio that’s on the water uh again absolutely surrounded by places to eat and drink um it’s just it’s a very it’s a very easy to get around there’s a good underground Network and it’s a good Walkin City and it’s not it’s not especially big yeah yeah fantastic yeah

I mean it’s a a plum draw for you I guess then seeing the Rangers coming over and playing Benfica um you imagine you’ll be in your normal seats in the home end imagine Ian so you need to watch what what you’re doing if Rangers

Well yes well as I say I my wife has generously given up her ticket and I’m bringing my dad over for the game um and we will sit we will be very well-mannered I’ve kind of got I’ve kind of got to I’ve got to know the people around me

You know we’re quite friendly but I don’t think they know yet I’m a ranger fan so so we’ll see what happens yeah and Derek told me you’ve got a good we story about about your dad um a Rangers European game he was telling me yeah um so this this goes back to

1962 um my dad my dad was a pro golfer and he’d he’d been down to London and he was at a club called Enfield Golf Club in North London and a lot of the Spurs players of the time and of course this is the great Spurs team yeah H they used

To they used to go there and he’d given some of them lessons and he’d get very friendly with a a guy called John White and uh it’s you know the the Spurs had drawn Rangers in the first round of the Cup winners cup MH and uh dad said to John well you

Know can you get us into the ground they know it’s sold out and John said yeah well he said look I can’t get you a ticket that’s all done but I’ll get you into the ground so my dad got to the ground and was shown to the Rangers

Bench wow and so sat there on the bench and at that time um you know they only you only really brought the manager and the trainer there no substitutes of course so you Scott Simon and Joe Mason came came out sat down and my dad had

Given my dad had been an assistant at ter so he given Scott Simon lessons so Scott Simon sat down looked at that and said what you doing here Jim that’s absolutely magnificent uh that is superb uh what a story that is so yeah you must be really

Looking forward it to this game then H your dad he’s quite excited yeah yeah yeah yeah how do you see it going then and how do you see the two games going honestly it’s an absolute tossup um I wouldn’t be surprised if Rangers win um I think I mean just the last few

Games Rangers have shown a lot of power I think yeah and some pace and what benfer really lack as aside at the moment is Pace mhm um and I could I could see just sneaking it well I certainly hope you’re right with with that with that prediction I

Expect it to be I mean it’s going to be two B two big games of course uh but certainly two games to look forward to isn’t it and I think having the second leg at I Brooks I think might be it might be a big thing as well oh I think

So I think so and you know we know what I Brooks is like in a big night MH yeah yeah let’s hope let’s hope it’s the start of perhaps another H civil type run uh this season all the way to Dublin but uh yeah certainly going to be a

Tough task for Rangers but but I it was brilliant to have you on thank you very much how much you enjoyed I mean you’ve been out there as you mentioned 18 months now the Portuguese way of life you’re a big fan of it over there oh we just absolutely love living here yeah

Yeah it’s it’s a very very easy place to live the the weather is generally good um it’s beautiful we live on the coast uh you know watch these gigantic waves it’s lovely yeah do you do you get back home much at all I’m going in third

Thur I know we’re going up to the highlands for a few days on Thursday and then I’m picking up my dad to bring to bring them over I I go back two or three times a year you know aging parents you have to yeah yeah yeah but good stuff

Well hopefully I was going to say hope your team win but I think we both hope that the Rangers do do the business uh in the two legs but uh yeah thank you very much for coming on it’s been a a real pleasure pleasure to have a chat with

You thanks very much yeah and uh let’s hope it all goes well over the next two games yeah