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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Gavin Berry

Rangers in Champions League draw boost as Turkish giants Fenerbahce ruled out as potential opponents

Rangers still have to wait until next month to discover who they will face in the Champions League third round qualifier.

But the picture became a little bit clearer after the second qualifying round draw at UEFA HQ in Nyon on Wednesday.

Danish side Midtjylland, who Steven Gerrard’s side defeated in the Europa League three years ago, face AEK Larnaca of Cyprus.

And Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men could face the winners of that tie when they go into the hat on July 18.

Dynamo Kyiv were drawn against Fenerbahce in the other tie, although Rangers were always going to avoid the Ukrainians as they are seeded.

And a win for the Turkish side would see them claim that seeded spot which means van Bronckhorst’s side now avoid them.

That is a boost as the Istanbul giants, who eliminated the Ibrox club from the Champions League at the qualifying stage in 2001, would have been one of the toughest potential ties.

The other seeds along with Rangers are Benfica and PSV Eindhoven.

The Fenerbahce fans are notorious (Christof Koepsel/Bongarts/Getty)

The eight sides in the hat are split into seeded unseeded teams and thanks to their rocket up the UEFA rankings, Rangers will get an easier tie on paper at least.

That means Rangers’ list of opponents in the third qualifier reads Midtjylland/AEK Larnaca, Monaco, Sturm Graz or Belgian outfit Union Saint-Gilloise.

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