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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Mark Pirie

Who Rangers could face in Champions League qualifying as Ibrox giants face fiery playoff deja vu prospect

For the first time in a decade Rangers fans have Champions League football to look forward to next season.

It was a dominant league campaign for the champions as they claimed the Premiership trophy and hopes will be high going in their bid for the group stage promised land.

Steven Gerrard ’s side have impressed in the Europa League in recent seasons and Scotland's improved coefficient will mean they kick-off their bid for the group stage on August 3 or 4 in the Third Qualifying Round.

They will be one of the seeded sides in the round after securing the Champions Path route and will avoid the likes of Dinamo Zagreb, Olympiacos, Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys.

There's also no prospect of a showdown with Slavia Prague after the fallout of Ondrej Kudela's racism as they enter at the third round stage.

It's the Ibrox side's first venture into the competition since their bid was halted in Malmo in 2011, as Ally McCoist's side dropped into Europa League qualification.

They face the prospect of facing the Swedes again this time around with Jon Dahl Tommason's team entering as an unseeded side.

The previous clash with Malmo was a bad-tempered affair as Rangers finished the game with nine men. Steven Whittaker and Madjid Bougherra saw red while the Swedes were also reduced to ten.

Steven Whittaker (2nd from right) trudges off the pitch after being shown the red card by referee Vladislav Bezborodov (SNS Group 0141 221 3602)

Legia Warsaw also offer another familiar foe having faced off against Gerrard's men in the Europa League 2019/20 campaign.

Romanian champions Cluj, who have proven to be a tough test for rivals Celtic in recent years, offer another potential stumbling block while Ludogorets could also provide a stern test after claiming their 10th consecutive Bulgarian title.

Following the end of the Danish league season, Brondby will enter in the same round and could face a test in Scotland.

Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol will also looks to pull off a shock and reach the group stage for the first time having built up a decent pedigree in the Europa League.

Victory at this stage will put Rangers into the final play-off for the group stage of the competition.

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