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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Mark Pirie

Who Rangers could face in the Europa League group stage with West Ham and Napoli showdowns on the cards

It's a huge week for Rangers as they look to book their place in the Europa League group stage.

Steven Gerrard 's side go into the playoff with Alashkert with a slim 1-0 advantage but will be hopeful of seeing off the Aremenian minnows despite Covid problems.

That would open the door for some mouth-watering ties in the potential group stage going into Thursday's second legs.

12 sides have automatically qualified including Leicester and West Ham. While Brendan Rodgers' side will avoid Rangers, as they are in the same pot, a potential Battle of Britain is on the cards against the Pot 3 seeded Hammers.

The Premiership champions could also be set to face off against Slavia Prague, who need to overcome Legia Warsaw to earn a spot in Pot 1.

The Czech champions knocked Gerrard's side out of last season's competition, but the victory was overshadowed by Ondrej Kudela's sickening racist abuse of Glen Kamara.

Jindrich Trpisovsky's side will hope to be among the 10 playoff winners entering the group stage.

The likes of Monaco and PSV also look set to drop into the second tier of European competition as they trail in their Champions League playoff fixtures.

The draw as it stands

Pot 1

Lyon

Napoli

Leverkusen

Lazio

Monaco

Dinamo Zagreb

Slavia Prague

Olympiacos

Pot 2

Braga

Celtic

Frankfurt

Crvena zvezda

Leicester

Genk

Lokomotiv Moscow

RANGERS

Pot 3

PSV

Marseille

West Ham

Ludogorets

Real Sociedad

Real Betis

Fenerbahce

Spartak Moscow

Pot 4

Sparta Prague

Galatasaray

Rapid Vienna

Midtylland

Sturm Graz

Brondby

Omonia Nicosia

Ferencvaros

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