Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Steven Mair

Rangers can dream of Barcelona blockbuster Europa League draw but face wait for final potential opponent

Rangers have learned all but one of their potential next Europa League opponents — and they could face Spanish giants Barcelona.

On Tuesday night the first four groups in UEFA's elite competition came to a close.

That led to four teams finishing in third and dropping down to the second-tier competition as a consolation.

They enter at the play-off knockout round against a team that finished second in their Europa League group and Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men fall into that category.

German duo RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund parachuted in alongside Porto and Moldovan shock troops Sheriff Tiraspol.

And in the early games on Wednesday, Zenit booked their third place.

(AFP via Getty Images)

A group containing Juventus and Chelsea proved too tall a mountain to climb, though a 3-3 draw with the European champions reminds Rangers and the rest of their pedigree.

Rangers fans would love to exact revenge for the 2008 UEFA Cup Final defeat to the Russians if they came face to face again.

But the biggest draw by far would be Barca as Xavi's side were dumped out of the Champions League by ruthless Bayern Munich.

And on current form the Catalonian side would by no means see a trip to Ibrox as a gimme.

Currently 7th in La Liga they don't even occupy a Europa Conference League place.

Rangers could draw another Spanish team in the form of Sevilla — who have won the competition a record six times.

But they must wait until tomorrow to discover if the final side in the hat for Monday's draw will be Atalanta or reigning champs Villarreal, after heavy snow in Bergamo called the game off.

It's only between that pair after Swiss side Young Boys failed to beat Manchester United and will finish bottom of Group F.

Potential Rangers Europa League opponents: RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortumund (GER), Porto (POR), Sheriff (MOL), Barcelona, Sevilla (ESP), Zenit (RUS)

We’ve teamed up with LiveScore to invite fans to vote for their favourite results - the games which were much more than a score. Vote for the match that mattered to you here

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.