25-05-2025
Rangers' potential Champions League opponents CONFIRMED as nightmare tie and familiar foes could lie in wait
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RANGERS' path to the Champions League has become a little clearer.
That's because all three of the Light Blues' potential second round qualifying opponents have been locked in.
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Rangers will enter the second qualifying round of the Champions League
Credit: Getty
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The Gers' qualifying hopes were ended by Dynamo Kyiv last season
Credit: Getty
Rangers will have to negotiate three rounds of they're to make the new look league phase of the Champions League for the first time.
The draw is only a few weeks away - it takes place on June 18 - with the first leg of the tie itself taking place on July 22/23.
So there really isn't long to go, and it's coming up fast with the Gers still not having a manager in place for the upcoming season.
While there's still uncertainty surrounding that, there IS now complete certainty on the potential teams Rangers could face in the round.
We already knew that the Light Blues would be seeded for the second qualifying round.
The Gers are in the league path of qualifying, the side of the draw reserved for non-champions.
League winners who enter qualifying follow a separate champions path.
The other two seeded teams alongside Rangers are Red Bull Salzburg and Viktoria Plzen.
Rangers, therefore, CANNOT face either of those sides.
The Gers will be draw against one of the three unseeded teams - Panathinaikos, Servette and Brann.
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The teams have only just been locked in as there was still uncertainty over the Austrian and Swiss sides who would be entering at this stage.
Austria Vienna still had a chance of finishing 2nd in the Austrian Bundesliga, and had they done so would have been unseeded with Panathinaikos being bumped up to seeded.
As it turned out, Sturm Graz ended up champions with Red Bull Salzburg finishing second.
In Switzerland, it's Servette who have secured the spot after finishing second.
Although they were held to a dramatic 3-3 final day draw by Laussane, Young Boys - who were also in contention for second - also drew their match and finished third.
On the face of things, the nightmare draw for Rangers would be a showdown with Greek giants Panathinaikos.
Rangers' Champions League draw
Second Qualifying Round
Seeded teams:
RANGERS
Red Bull Salzburg
Viktoria Plzen
Unseeded teams:
Panathinaikos
Servette
Brann
Servette, however, are familiar to the Gers with the two sides having faced-off in Champions League qualifying just two years ago.
Michael Beale's Gers edged the Swiss side out 2-1 at Ibrox before a 1-1 draw away from home saw the Light Blues advance 3-2 on aggregate.
Norwegian outfit Brann would be a bit more of an unknown quantity for Rangers.
But they have recent history in Scotland themselves.
They faced St Mirren in Conference League qualifying last season.
Things were finely poised after a 1-1 draw in Paisley before the Norwegians secured a comfortable 3-1 win in the second leg to advance.
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