CO ADRIAANSE last night expressed supreme confidence that he can coach Porto to a Champions League victory at Ibrox this evening.
The Dutchman insisted he would not alter his usual attacking style for the Group H opener and said there was no reason why his side could not win the competition to emulate Jose Mourinho's class of 2004.
Adriaanse will call on his experience of beating Rangers in last season's UEFA Cup with AZ Alkmaar. He also believes the ultimately futile 1-0 win of his Ajax side at Celtic Park in 2001 has provided a template on how to quieten a capacity Old Firm crowd.
"I've already beaten Rangers with AZ Alkmaar so I know their squad, " said Adriaanse. "I know Alex [McLeish] well and also his assistant, Jan Wouters.
"A game in Glasgow is far more difficult than Alkmaar but, last season, the fans of Rangers were chanting 'who are you' during the game. At the end, they knew who I was.
"I know it's difficult to win in Scotland but I came here four years ago with Ajax to play Celtic. We had lost 3-1 in the Amsterdam ArenA but won 1-0 in the second leg in front of a full stadium. As a coach, I have already experienced what it takes to win in Scotland in the Champions League."
Adriaanse claimed he had not yet finalised his line-up for the game but he has his full 20-man squad available for selection after banishing Benni McCarthy, the South African striker, before f lying to Glasgow.
"Ibrox is a difficult venue but we come here to win, of course, " said Adriaanse. "Rangers have very good players, people like Dado Prso, Fernando Ricksen, Ronald Waterreus and Barry Ferguson, but we will attack.
People could say that is dangerous in the Champions League, but is it not just as dangerous to only defend?"
The Porto coach has studied dvds of Rangers but claimed their recent defensive difficulties didn't give him additional hope. "I watched the match when they lost three goals on the counter-attack [against Hibernian], " he said. "But those counters were so good they should be used on a coaching course. It's lucky for the Rangers defence that we're not a counter-attacking team.
We play a different way."
Adriaanse again denied that he had been approached, directly or indirectly, by Celtic towards the end of last season.
He did, though, admit a fascination with the pulling power of the Old Firm.
"It is a huge honour to work for Rangers or Celtic, " said Adriaanse. "In Holland, they have a big name and I love it that the stadiums are always full.
"In Porto, I have a job to do because our stadium is not sold out. There were 12,000 empty seats at our last game. I watch the Old Firm match four times a year and that's a good atmosphere for players. An artist or a singer needs a full hall."
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