Mendes reassures adopted nation that good times will come again

AS the only Champions League winner currently plying his trade in the SPL, Pedro Mendes is better placed than most to provide a sense of perspective in the inevitable debate surrounding the abject failure of Scottish clubs in European competition this season.

The Portuguese international midfielder, who lifted the greatest club prize of them all with Porto in 2004, has brought some welcome class and technical excellence to the SPL since his £3million move to Rangers from Portsmouth in August.

Mendes arrived after the Ibrox club suffered the worst European result in their history, losing to Kaunas in the second qualifying round of the Champions League. That humiliation has proved to be just the prelude to a shocking campaign for Scotland's European participants who have all failed to progress beyond the initial points of entry in their respective tournaments.

It does not reflect well on the nation where Mendes has chosen to spend the next three years of his career, but the 29-year-old believes it is the style rather than the standard of Scottish football which is the source of the difficulties encountered by Rangers and Celtic in the Champions League and Motherwell and Queen of the South in the Uefa Cup.

"They are two completely different things," he said. "It is unfair to blame it on the standard of the game here. I know from my experience so far with Rangers that any game we play, especially away from home, is very hard for us. But in European matches, you have to learn to play in a different way. You should approach the game in a different manner. You should definitely be less aggressive in European games.

"If Rangers, or Celtic, go away from home in a league match, they always have to win. But in the European games, sometimes a draw is good for you so you have to set the team up in a different way.

"It is a massive blow not to have any Scottish teams left in Europe for the second half of the season but I think we can say it is just one bad year. Celtic reached the Uefa Cup final against Porto the year before we won the Champions League, Rangers reached the Uefa Cup final last season, so you can't say it is a fantasy for Scottish clubs to go all the way in Europe. It can be achieved, it's just a question of how you improve your game and approach the games properly."

Mendes, at Hampden yesterday to promote Setanta's live coverage of Rangers' SPL fixture against Hearts at Tynecastle on Saturday, was happy to remind the Scottish press pack that Portugal are currently celebrating both Porto and Sporting Lisbon having reached the last 16 of the Champions League.

He believes greater competitiveness in the Portuguese League, where the traditional dominance of Porto, Sporting and Benfica is being seriously challenged, is responsible for higher levels of achievement in Europe. From what he has experienced in the SPL so far, Mendes is confident Scotland can follow the trend of his homeland.

"The lower teams are improving a lot in Portugal," he said. "Leixoes are top of the table at the moment and it is now fairly normal for one of the big three to drop points. Three or four years ago, if Porto, Benfica or Sporting dropped points, it was considered a disaster for them. You can compare that with Scotland, where Celtic and Rangers are the dominant teams and are always expected to beat the other teams. This is my first season here, so I can't really comment on the past, but I can say there is a very good level of player, especially young players, in the SPL.

" So I think the league here will become more competitive soon with more teams taking points off the big two."

Mendes is aware, however, that dropping points is something Rangers can ill afford against Hearts this weekend. Already four points behind Celtic at the top of the SPL, he feels it is crucial not to lose further ground before the next Old Firm fixture on 27 December. He also has no anticipation of Celtic suffering a reaction to their Champions League exit when they return to domestic business.

"I hope they do," he said, "but normally when you have a night like that in Europe, you use it as motivation to make sure you win the league games. That's what I expect Celtic will do, although I hope they don't.

"If we can at least keep the gap as it is at the moment, it would be good for us if we are able to close it to just one point by beating them at Ibrox next month. We really have to try and make sure we don't drop any more points as well as hoping Celtic drop a couple."