Aaron Ramsey

Plenty might not have thought Aaron Ramsey would outlast Juventus in Europe when he signed for Rangers on loan in January – but that’s exactly what has happened. The Italian giants are licking their wounds following a surprise Champions League exit at the hands of La Liga side Villarreal, who put in a monumental performance to win 3-0 in Italy.

With the game neatly poised following a 1-1 draw in Spain, the game looked to be heading towards extra time before a late flurry put Max Allegri’s side to the sword. Gerard Moreno opened the scoring in the 78th minute before Pau Torres had Villarreal in dreamland and Arnaut Danjuma completed the scoring with an injury time penalty.

It’s a sore one for European Super League advocates Juventus who’ve now crashed out of the Champions League in successive seasons at the hands of Ajax, Lyon, Porto and Villareal – sides who weren’t invited to the project.
More pertinently for Rangers, the Italian giants are the parent club of Aaron Ramsey and the Welsh international could outlast Juventus in European competition this season. Rangers currently held a 3-0 lead over Red Star Belgrade ahead of the second leg of their clash in Serbia and were red hot favourites to reach the Quarter Final.
After doing so, Rangers have now shocked much of Europe in getting this far with the club expected to crash out of the competition to Champions League dropouts Dortmund. As a result, the fact that Aaron Ramsey has outlasted Juventus on the continent this season was also unexpected but that’s exactly what might happen this week.
The result also shows just how far the Ibrox side have come in Europe with the Gers managing two draws against Villarreal in Steven Gerrard’s first season in the Europa League group stages.