HENRIK LARSSON spent seven years battling Rangers on the pitch, scoring 15 goals in 30 Old Firm outings.
But off the grass, the Celtic legend put the rivalry to one side and build up a friendship with some of Rangers’ greatest players.
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The Swedish icon, who scored 242 goals in 315 goals for the Hoops following his £750,000 move from Feyenoord in 1997, has recalled the moment he was nearly involved in an altercation with a Gers supporter in Glasgow – before an Ibrox star stepped in to save him.
The 52-year-old has revealed that he used to have a close bond with former Rangers defender and manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst despite the Glasgow rivalry.
They enjoyed getting takeaways together after games and they rarely had trouble from fans of either side.
But there was one time when a drunk Rangers supporter recognised him in the Dutchman’s new Porsche and began pestering him, only for Van Bronckhorst to return and put the fan in his place.
Larsson didn’t quite understand the rivalry at first.
But after some time in Glasgow, the legendary striker quickly became aware of the history between the two clubs and fell in love with the derby atmosphere in the city.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Larsson recalled: “When we played against Rangers, we hated each other. But when it was finished, we were friends. Mostly Rangers fans were no problem.
“There was once when I was with Giovanni van Bronckhorst [his friend and then Rangers defender], who had just bought a new Porsche. We were in Uddingston because we were picking up some takeaway food.
“We used to order Chinese food a lot, peking duck after a game. There was this drunk Rangers supporter who wasn’t happy when he saw me and the new car.
“He was walking towards it, until Giovanni took him away. I loved the rivalry. It took some time to get used to it. I understand what it’s all about now, but not in the beginning.”
Larsson went on to win four league titles, two Scottish Cups and two League Cups in Glasgow.
He was close to adding a Uefa Cup winners medal to his collection – scoring twice in the 2003 final against Jose Mourinho’s Porto – but Celtic fell to a 3-2 defeat, leaving the Swede as runner up.
And the night in Seville is still fresh on Larsson’s memory as he continues to regret how the final turned out to this day.
“I still haven’t gotten over that one,” he admitted.
“I wish I had done more, because I know how much it meant to the Celtic fans. There were more than 50,000 of them in Seville.”
The ‘King of Kings’ is regarded one of Celtic’s greatest ever players.
He went on to join Barcelona on a free transfer in 2004 and finally added a European trophy to his collection – the Champions League.
He came off the bench against Arsenal in the 2005/06 final while the Spaniards were 1-0 down, only for Larsson to save the day and turn the game around with two assists for Samuel Eto’o and Juliano Belletti.
But Larsson almost missed the cut for the matchday squad, with him and Lionel Messi struggling with hamstring injuries in the lead up to the final.
He said: “It was touch and go between me and Messi. But he sat in the stands and I went to the bench. Messi wasn’t the Messi then that he became.
“He was really, really good but not the player he was a year or two later. But also playing an English team, Frank Rijkaard knew I was used to that physical game.”
Larsson is a legend of Swedish football and is widely regarded as one of the nation’s best ever players.
But despite being capped 106 times – featuring at the World Cup and Euros – and winning the Champions League with Barcelona and Premier League with Manchester United, Larsson admits it was his Celtic team-mates who made him the player he was.
He added: “The players Martin O’Neill brought in helped me become the player I was.
“Chris Sutton, Alan Thompson, John Hartson. We were an excellent team. We beat Blackburn and Liverpool on the way to the Uefa Cup final in 2003, with 16 or 17 internationals in our team.
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“It was a stronger Celtic team than now, and a stronger Rangers team.”
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