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Glasgow Live
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Alan Galindo

Rangers Champions League key dates including draw schedule in bid to qualify for group stage

Rangers are back in the swing of pre-season with all focus turning towards the perfect Premiership start and the Champions League qualifiers.

Michael Beale faces a massive summer overhaul at Ibrox with the hard work behind the scenes already underway. The club confirmed the departures of Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent, Filip Helander, Allan McGregor and Scott Arfield with the supporters sending off the five players in the final home fame of the season. Six players have arrived the other way in the shape of Kieran Dowell, Dujon Sterling, Jack Butland, Sam Lammers, Abdallah Sima and Cyriel Dessers with magic No7 on the way with Leon Balogun set for a dramatic return.

It will be a new-look side who will be in place to try and dethrone Celtic domestically next season, but with the Champions League qualifiers at the start of the campaign, Beale will be determined to get his men gelling for as long as possible before those all important matches. Giovanni van Bronckhorst navigated the two round last year to reach the lucrative tournament proper and that will be the aim once again his time around. Here are the key details you need to know ahead of the qualifying route getting underway later this summer.

READ MORE: Leon King in Rangers 'back stronger' injury message after being ruled out for 'significant period'

Third qualifying round

Rangers enter the competition at the third qualifying round meaning they will need to safely navigate two two-legged ties.

They will discover their first opponents on July 24 with the two games played early August.

The first leg will be played on the midweek of August 8/9 with the return one week later on August 15.

Victory here will leave the Ibrox men potentially just 180 minutes away from the tournament proper.

Play-off round

Reach this point and the Ibrox men can start dreaming of the group stage once again.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst masterminded a win over Dutch giants PSV last year and you can expect the Light Blues to come up against a similar standard of opposition if they get to this point.

They will discover who they will be up against before kicking a ball in the previous round with the draw on August 7.

The two-legged tie - like the previous round - will take place over a week with the first meetings on August 22 or 23 with the return games on August 29 or 30.

Win here and it is time to get excited for that famous anthem once more.

Champions League group stage

The exciting part that all the fans and everyone connected with Rangers will be craving this summer.

The big draw takes place on August 31 with Celtic already in the hat, the Ibrox side will be determined to join the party.

It is more than likely at this stage to face a big Euro heavyweight with the Hoops paired with Real Madrid last season and Rangers landing both Liverpool and Napoli.

Six matches are played at this stage with the four clubs placed together in the section playing each other home and away.

The competition proper kicks off on the midweek of September 19/20.

19/20 September: UEFA Champions League Matchday 1

3/4 October: UEFA Champions League Matchday 2

24/25 October: UEFA Champions League Matchday 3

7/8 November: UEFA Champions League Matchday 4

28/29 November: UEFA Champions League Matchday 5

12/13 December: UEFA Champions League Matchday 6

Europa League

Rangers reached the final of this competition recently and if they fail at either stage of qualifying they will enter the second tier competition.

The group stage draw takes place on September 1 with the first round of games three weeks later.

Like the Champions League, the four clubs drawn together face each other home and away in the group.

21 September: UEFA Europa League Matchday 1

5 October: UEFA Europa League Matchday 2

26 October: UEFA Europa League Matchday 3

9 November: UEFA Europa League Matchday 4

30 November: UEFA Europa League Matchday 5

14 December: UEFA Europa League Matchday 6

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