Santi Cazorla says it’ll be special facing Steven Gerrard’s Rangers

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Glasgow Rangers kick off their Europa League campaign on Thursday, but the Ibrox side will be underdogs in Spain.

Santi Cazorla has told BBC Sport that Steven Gerrard is his idol and it will be extremely special when he comes up against the Englishman’s Rangers side on Thursday.

Rangers kick off the group-stages of the Europa League with a fairly daunting trip to Spain to take on Villarreal. The Gers are considerable underdogs for Thursday’s tie, and Cazorla may perhaps be one of the players that Gerrard will be particularly wary of.

The 33-year-old is no stranger to Gerrard having enjoyed a lengthy spell in the Premier League before returning to the Yellow Submarine this summer. And Cazorla himself, suggested that he is extremely excited to face the Gers given his admiration for their manager.

“Steven has always been an idol of mine, since I was a kid,” he told BBC Sport. “The second game I played in the Premier League was in Liverpool and I asked him for his jersey and I’ve treasured it since.

“The fact he’s coming here as manager of Rangers makes the game more special for me because I’ve always looked up to him. Apart from the games against Villarreal, which I hope he loses, I wish him well.”

What will give Rangers some hope is that Villarreal have not made the best start to the new domestic season. They won last time out against Leganes, but they have lost both of their home games in La Liga and find themselves in the bottom-half of the table.

The Gers have a lot of quality in their ranks. And they may perhaps relish the underdogs tag having fought so hard to get to the group-stages themselves.

Gerrard will not need to remind his players just how big a statement it would send out, both domestically and across the continent, if Rangers could bag a win from their group-stage opener.