Ciao Fiorentina, Hello Manchester…

It wasn’t pretty, but Sir Walter Smith’s (I’ve just knighted him myself, so shaddup) strategy worked flawlessly as Rangers held the Viola scoreless in Florence, then sacked up during a nervy round of penalty kicks, including the deal-sealer by Nacho Novo (above). Here’s the report.

Rangers are through to their first European final in 36 years, and will face a Zenit side that served up a 4-0 drubbing of Bayern Munich in the other bracket.

Fiorentina may have been the classier side — I’m anticipating Aloysius’s forthcoming comments on the Telegraph message boards already — and they can soothe themselves with that knowledge as they watch the final on television. Snigger snigger.

Now, if Rangers can only survive their final six domestic fixtures to claim the SPL crown, in doubt in large part due to their unexpected European success, how sweet it would be.

According to the preview of this weekend’s Big West conference weekend series between UC RIverside and Cal State Northridge — bitter rivals back in the D2 CCAA — the latest set of Strength of Schedule ratings at Boydsworld.com has UC Riverside’s schedule ranked as the toughest in all of Division I College Baseball. (I looked and couldn’t find it at www.boydsworld.com-PW)

From the UCR release: The Highlanders rank ahead of defending national champion Oregon State and current PAC-10 leader Stanford. UCR has played #5 UC Irvine three times, #8 Nebraska four times this season, #21 San Diego twice, #22 Cal State Fullerton and #25 Long Beach State three times. UCR plays #5 UC Irvine once more for a non-conference match-up on May 6th.

That said, they’re well under .500 this season overall, and have their hands full in a Big West conference race that looks to be an all-out dogfight. They currently are tied for 4th with No. 25 Long Beach State.

The Highlanders have retained their propensity to swing above their weight when they play the heavy programs. To wit, they’ve won weekend series against two top-ten teams — UC Irvine when they were No. 5, just last weekend, and Long Beach State, while they occupied the No. 9 slot earlier in the season. They don’t have the consistency of last year’s Big West-winning squad, but if they can turn some of the experience they’ve gained playing the toughest schedule in the land into a second-half surge and sneak into the rankings, they could well find a spot in a regional.

Ace sophomore stopper Joe Kelly is back in the bull pen for Doug Smith, and proved stone-cold in the 9th inning during Sunday’s rubber game win over UCI at Anteater Field — another bit of mo’ upon which the Highlanders can build.

With his side decimated by injury and suspensions, Walter Smith’s Rangers bent but didn’t break Thursday, battling to a 0-0 draw on the home leg of the UEFA Cup Semis against a comparatively healthy Fiorentina side, occupiers of the fourth position in the Serie A table. Here’s the report.

Rangers now face with the proposition of advancing to a European final on away goals — never easy, but it seems to be the currency with which Rangers have traded during their 2008 European campaign. Just ask Sporting Lisbon.

Now it’s home to Glasgow for two days’ rest before an Old Firm clash for the ages on Sunday — with the SPL crown potentially hanging in the balance.

So much has happened since my last post that I won’t even attempt to cover it. However, some highlights…

Not one but two away goals at Sporting Lisbon saw Rangers through to the UEFA Cup Semifinals as the Ibrox side continues its miraculous turnaround season, in which its still in the hunt for four trophies.  Stout defense and opportunistic counters coolly executed were the difference.

That was followed three days later by a HUGE Old Firm fixture at Parkhead. Whew… what a game. Celtic earned the win — aided by Rangers playing on two days rest. The victory was seemingly snatched away when the ever-canny Carlos Cuellar punched away a sure goal by Nakamura late in the second half. It would have been Naka’s second of the game, the first being one of the most incredible strikes I’ve seen this season. But Cuellar unabashedly punched it away and stoically took the red to preserve the draw. But surely the draw would only stand for a moment as the SPL’s leading goal-scorer this season, Scott McDonald, set up for the ensuing penalty kick.  

But Allan McGregor, who was positively limping around on an ankle he injured minutes prior, clutched up, smothering McDonald’s badly telegraphed spot-kick to grow his hero status this season even bigger.  It looked as if Cuellar’s gamble had paid off, bringing gleeful smirks to the Blue Noses. The SPL title, it seemed, would be sealed on this day…

It was not to be, however. A Venegoor of Hesselink header deep into injury time found the mark, giving Celtic a 2-1 win and all three points, extending the Parkhead side’s tenuous 2008 title hopes for another week.

It was Celtic’s first Old Firm win in five tries, but will likely do little to quell the pressure on Gordon Strachan, which is crazy considering Celtic won the SPL  and advanced to the round of 16 in Champions League twice during his tenure. Celtic are two points ahead at the moment, but Rangers have three games in hand. The final Old Firm game of the season on Sunday – again at Parkhead — will be even bigger than the last. 

But before that happens, the first leg of the UEFA Cup Semi-final at home against Fiorentina is also a huge match. And Rangers go in with a long list of key injuries and suspensions. They will have to dig deep to hold off the injury-free Viola on Thursday, only to face a well-rested Celtic three days later. Hold on to your fuggin’ kilts, folks…

The scrappy Rangers Football Club, easily one of Europe’s great turnaround stories this season, battled to a scoreless tie with Sporting in the UEFA Cup quarters on Friday. If they can win, or score an away goal in a draw, they’re through to the UEFA Cup semis. Already, this has been the club’s best performance in a European competition since 1972, but the semis would be dead brilliant.

The 2007-08 basketball season is a done deal for UC Riverside with an 81-69 loss to Cal State Fullerton last night. Ultimately, they hung tough in this game. The Titans were on — raining threes.

The Highlanders finished 9-21. 7th in conference. First-round survivors of the Big West Tourney. A team with much of which it can be proud. A team with lots of “upside potential,” too.

Hat’s off to the only departing senior, Larry Cunningham, who walked tall through darker seasons than this. A winner despite it all.

Well, not really, so please don’t call PETA. But the No. 7 seed Highlanders did send No. 6 seed Cal Poly home early with a first-round exit in the Big West Tournament. The Highlanders’ 62-56 UCR victory, was only its second-ever D1 “post-season” win, and its first since the Nate Carter-Vili Morton days.  Read full coverage here.

When the team huddled before tip off, their team cheer was a business-like “Play hard” and ultimately their efforts resulted in a hard-earned if somewhat ugly win. Both teams got off to slow starts, and UCR held a slim 20-17 halftime lead after leading by as many as 10.

Cal Poly came out of the second half with more pressure and even led for a few minutes before UCR went back out in front and the two teams started trading buckets for an extended time. Ultimately, a series of defensive stops by the Highlanders resulted in a consistent 6 to 8-point gap down the stretch, forcing the Mustangs to start fouling with about a minute left. The right strategy, considering the Highlanders’ pathetic average from the stripe, but it didn’t pay off this time as Jalonni Diggs and Larry Cunningham made enough of their free throws to seal the deal.

UCR will have to raise its game to compete with Cal State Fullerton in the early game tonight. The Titans hold the fourth-best ppg average in D1. Fortunately for Rivi, defense and hustle are two of its strong suits. Couple that with a solid team offensive performance and it could be close enough down the stretch to be interesting.

No matter what happens tonight, however, it’s clear that UCR has made forward progress. As mentioned before, the Highlanders are plain competitive this season. Ask UCI, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, and Hawaii — teams they beat — as well as UCSB, Pacific, CSUN and the other teams they played tight.

Wooldridge, here’s your bogey for next season: .500

Pub Wisdom Predicts: CSUF 85, UCR 72

So I was 3 points off…  (See prediction in my previous post).

UCR — picked last in the preseason coaches poll — handled the UC Davis Aggies from beginning to end to pick up its fourth conference win, 75-66, and finish the regular season in 7th place in the Big West, ahead of UC Davis and Long Beach State. A loss would’ve dropped them to 9th and out of the Big West Tournament.

Sean “No Relation” Cunningham went off the richter for 22 points on 8-of-9 from the field.

So the Highlanders extend their season and earn the chance to see if they can turn their increased competitiveness into a four-game run in the neutral (creepy?) confines of the Anaheim Convention Center. As I said before, weirder things have happened.

First up, sixth-seeded Cal Poly  – a team UCR has beaten before this season — in the late game on Wednesday night. See you in Anaheim. Sorry, not you, Aggies…

Going into tonight’s must-win game against UC Davis, the Press-Enterprise profiles UCR’s all-time scoring leader here. The winner earns the right to a shot at an NCAA bid by running the table at the Big West Tournament next week. Stranger things have happened.

Pub Wisdom Predicts: UCR 75, UC Davis 69

Riverside King toppled No. 1 seed and nationally ranked Woodland Hills Taft in OT last night! The Wolves  now face Compton Dominguez in the Regional Final on Saturday Night for the right to play in the State Championship at Arco Arena.

Full coverage here: “We couldn’t stop them,” Taft coach Derrick Taylor said. “They were just too quick.”