Mikel Arteta has made no bones about his loyalties to Rangers ever since leaving the club.
The Ibrox treble-winner made headlines when Alex McLeish’s Rangers spent £6m to sign a teenage midfielder from Barcelona.
Having faced Mikel Arteta in the UEFA Cup the year previously, the young Spaniard having spent the campaign on loan at PSG, Rangers were well aware of the kid’s qualities.
Now, the Arsenal manager has been speaking about his Champions League experiences with Rangers and claims he “fell in love” with Ibrox.
Mikel Arteta “fell in love” with Rangers “passion”
Mikel Arteta was being interviewed by Goal as part of a Champions League special.
It comes with Arsenal set to face off against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter final this week.
Arteta – who was the understudy of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City – also has the Gunners top of a tight Premier League on goal difference.
The former Rangers midfielder was asked to go back and discuss his earliest experiences of the European tournament.
And as Mikel Arteta recanted his early memories of the Champions League, Rangers got an honourable mention.
“My UEFA Champions League debut was in Milan (with PSG),” said Arteta.
“The first memory is being in that tunnel, just waiting for the two teams to come out.
“A huge challenge for me to see where I was at 17, 18 years old.
“Then I moved to Rangers and we played the UEFA Champions League there as well.
“I just fell in love with that stadium, with that energy, with that passion.”
In total Mikel Arteta played six times for Rangers in the 03/04 Champions League campaign.
Scoring a crucial penalty against FC Copenhagen in qualification, Rangers finished bottom in a group with Manchester United, VfB Stuttgart & Panathinaikos.
Arsenal manager still a “Rangers fan”
Mikel Arteta is certainly making a name for himself in the Champions League as Arsenal manager with his sights also set on Premier League glory.
But before his stint south of the border as a player with Everton and then the Gunners, Arteta first came to these shores via the famous Glasgow Rangers.
The crowning moment in Arteta’s Rangers journey was that last minute penalty goal v Dunfermline which clinched the Scottish Premiership back in 02/03.
The next season Arteta scored an impressive nine goals from midfield before heading to Real Sociedad and waving goodbye to Ibrox.
Having returned to Ibrox for a pre-season friendly in our 150th anniversary season back in 2021/22, Arteta has routinely offered soundbites about Rangers.
When Steven Gerrard left the club for Aston Villa in 2021, the donostiarra admitted that he’s very much still a “Rangers fan”.
“As a Rangers fan I must say thank you so much to Stevie and the coaching staff for what they did for the club,” said Arteta.
“To manage to win the league in the way they did it obviously was a big boost.”
In total, Mikel Arteta played 60 times for Rangers, scoring 13 goals.
Rangers and Arsenal may well meet in the competition next season – but the challenge has been set for the Ibrox side by what’s happening in Portugal.
