Rangers beating Moscow Dynamo in 1972 to win the European Cup Winners Cup was arguably our Great Clubs finest achievement other than winning 9 titles in a row between 1989 and 1997, to match Celtic's record of the 60s. It was 3rd time lucky for the Gers after defeats in the 1961 and 1967 Finals to Fiorentina and Bayern Munich respectively.
1st Round
The campaign started off with a 2 legged victory over French Club Rennes, in the first leg Rangers drew 1-1 with Willie Johnston opening the scoring in a game Rangers opted for containment before Rennes got a late equalizer, in the return leg at Ibrox Willie Waddell opted to attack and Rangers won the game 1-0 with Alex McDonald scoring to triumph 2-1 on aggregate.
2nd Round
In the next round, Rangers played their first leg against Sporting Lisbon at Ibrox, thrilling the fans with a terrific first-half display which saw them lead 3-0. The Portuguese, though, scored twice in the second 45 to make the return leg a nail-biting prospect for Rangers. Rangers' trip to Lisbon was horrendous. A strike by airport baggage handlers in London meant it took a day and a half for the team to reach their destination. Sporting led in the Jose Alvalade Stadium 2-1 at half time, then the Gers made it 2-2 to once again seize the upper hand. Sadly, Ronnie McKinnon broke his leg during the second half and things were looking bleak when Sporting struck for the third time. At 5-5 on aggregate, the game went into extra time. Willie Henderson scored for Rangers in extra time, but the Portuguese, with just six minutes left, scored to make it 4-3 on the night, 6-6 on aggregate.
What followed must be one of the most bizarre incidents in the history of any European tournament. The Dutch referee Laurens van Raavens failed to recognise that Rangers, having scored three away goals to Sporting's two, had won the tie. He ordered the teams to take five penalties each. With the Lisbon fans pouring over the barriers and standing on the touchline, Rangers managed to score just one spot kick. The Sporting Lisbon takers did considerably better. As the local fans went crazy with joy, and the goalie Damas was carried off shoulder high, it looked like it was all over for Rangers.
However, Willie Waddell was insistent that the penalty shoot-out should never have taken place. He tracked down UEFA official Senor Ranirez of the Spanish FA and pointed out in the rule book the section on away goals. Indeed, Waddell was correct. The referee was overruled, the result overturned and Rangers were heading into the next round where they would lock horns with Italian side Torino.
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