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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Gabriel McKay

Rangers Europa League second leg could be scrapped as Spanish chief hints at madcap UEFA plan

Rangers may never get to play their second leg against Bayer Leverkusen, as the head of the Spanish FA reveals UEFA may skip to the semi-finals.

Steven Gerrard 's side were defeated 3-1 at Ibrox in their Europa League last 16 first leg, with the Scottish football shutdown coming into effect a day later.

And with UEFA scrambling to try and finish the season, the head of Spain's football federation says European competitions could skip to the semis.

Rubiales, a former Hamilton player, told Fox Sports: "Organising a final with four teams, a Final Four, is an option because there are fewer and fewer places available on the calendar, and you have to have imagination .

Luis Rubiales in action for Hamilton in a 3-0 defeat against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park back in 2009 (Andrew West/SNS Group)

"So far there's been no thought of cancellation."

It hasn't been revealed what the criteria would be for selecting the final four of both competitions.

Both have only reached the last 16 stage, and in the Europa League two ties have not even played a first leg.

It's also far from clear that it will be possible to play in the near future.

On Saturday UEFA President Alexsander Ceferin set a final deadline of August 3 for the competitions to be completed.

He said: "By August 3 everything must be finished, both for the Champions League and the Europa League.

"This is an extraordinary situation but we can play on the same dates as the domestic leagues."

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