It didn’t take long until Walter Smith had to face questions about ‘The Wonder of the Weser’, but the Rangers manager had a prompt answer for the gathered journalists: "Of course we are aware of what Werder have achieved here and I am absolutely convinced of the fact that Thursday’s game will be one of the toughest games we ever play, but, I have other memories of the Weser Stadium. I played here at the beginning of the eighties with Dundee United. Our situation wasn’t great but Bremen were just not in luck on the day. They hit the bar six times, the post three times and had several shots cleared off the line in that game. It was a miracle that we survived that one."

The Scottish coach is not relying on divine intervention to do his side any favours on Thursday night and he is vehemently opposed to the general opinion in the Scottish press that his sides two goal lead basically has them home and dry: "That’s not so in my opinion. Werder will make our lives difficult with their attacking game and we hope to be able to hold off the Werder charge with our defensive measures. If they can win 2:0 at home, then so can we. That’s what Bremen will be thinking."