Scottish clubs that have been “most successful” in Europe are Rangers or Celtic, according to UEFA records.
It’s one of several long-running arguments between Celtic, the Old Firm rivals, and Rangers.
It may even be the largest, in all likelihood.
The question of European football is still very much in the spotlight as Celtic gets painfully closer to Rangers’ record-breaking league title haul.
Both teams have won a single European trophy between them and have participated consistently in European play for the past 70 years.
However, only one of Glasgow’s Old Firm duopoly can be named Scotland’s most successful club in Europe, and it’s hardly even a competition, according to a prominent football data website from Switzerland.
Among the most reliable providers of UEFA coefficient statistics on X is Swiss Football statistics, which ranks Rangers & Celtic’s UEFA history.
The account has just generated the legitimate list of the “most successful clubs” in Europe, which ranks teams from all over the continent according to their past record in European play.
The relative coefficient scores of each team that has participated in a European competition since the 55/56 season are compiled to achieve this.
And while some Glasgow residents will be happy with the outcome, others will probably be hiding their heads.
Rangers, placed an excellent 11th overall (113.667), are by far the best-performing team in Scotland’s history of European involvement.
That puts them above Old Firm rivals Celtic (15th – 104.250), iconic English team Liverpool (14th – 106.432), and Italian powerhouse Inter Milan (12th – 110.341).
Real Madrid (189.184) is the best-performing European team in history, followed by fierce rivals Barcelona (178.156).
It’s interesting to note that in the history of European play, Manchester United (8th – 123.213) is the only English team to rank higher than Rangers.
The best team in Scotland is Rangers. In terms of UEFA coefficient, Rangers is among the top performing clubs in Europe during the past five seasons. Given the club’s financial difficulties in 2012, Rangers’ subsequent performance on the European stage has been amazing, and the club’s achievements are simply not given enough credit in Scottish football.
It was an amazing achievement to go to Seville, and Rangers’ incredible coefficient contribution has ensured Champions League football for a Scottish team for the past three seasons. It’s unfortunate, though, that Celtic, a team that has consistently underperformed in Europe for a period, has benefited from our home failures.
Celtic has not triumphed in a European knockout match since 2004, a period during which Rangers have advanced to two European finals. In addition to lavish media attention surrounding Parkhead, the stadium frequently experiences regular taunts from the public. While all is going on, Rangers are still performing beyond their level despite a backlash of criticism at home. History indicates that Rangers, not Celtic, are the team that waves the saltire highest when playing abroad, therefore we anticipate the same thing happening again next season.