22 Jul 2021 10:45:37
After a tightly contested first leg, Rangers still await their fate as Malmo hold a slender 2-1 first leg lead.
If we fail against either Malmo or Helsinki, we enter the Europa League play offs for direct entry into the Europa League Group Stages.
Fail again and we transfer into the new Europa Conference League Group Stage.
But that's a lot of fails!
Let's think positively!
A win against either Malmo or Helsinki sees us enter the Final Qualifying Round where the following sides lie in wait if all as expected win and there is no upsets:-
Red Bull Salzburg, Slavia Prague, Dinamo Zagreb, Olympiacos, Young Boys, Red Star Belgrade and Brondy.
Of the 8 teams at this stage, Rangers would miss out on being seeded as we are currently ranked 7th out of the teams mentioned.
So out of the expected teams left we can get either Red Bull Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb, Slavia Prague or Olympiacos.
Teams like Ferencvaros ( who knocked Celtic out last year ) and Cluj ( who knocked Celtic out 2 years ago ) may have a part to play but we would need 3 teams above us from the 8 to get knocked out.
And with Red Bull Salzburg not needing to play any qualifiers to get into the last 8, we would need Dinamo Zagreb or Olympiacos to lose their 2nd or 3rd qualifying round. Or Slavia Prague to lose their 3rd qualifying round.
If we get past either Malmo or Helsinki but fail at the Play-off Round for the CL and we achieve direct entry into the Europa League Group Stages.
Tough games ahead.

1.) 22 Jul 2021
22 Jul 2021 12:59:09
Certainly need to up our game anyway to make CL groups. Slavia were better than us over 2 legs last time. So would ideally like to avoid them and red bull.

2.) 22 Jul 2021
22 Jul 2021 16:11:26
Said the last 2 seasons teams like Slavia and Leverkusen were a step up for us. On our day we can compete ie Porto and Benfica but needed a couple top signings to get to the level of Slavia and Leverkusen and compete in the Champions League without losing too many first team players too. Maybe Lundstram and Sakala will be they players but for me I think we need at least one more quality player in there.

3.) 22 Jul 2021
22 Jul 2021 23:32:01
I think Porto are at least as good as salvia Prague. We were in good place coming to home leg, just didn't turn up on the night they were really decent but 100% beatable.

4.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 08:18:38
You’re probably right on our day we are capable of competing against most teams at that level outside the top top teams but still feel Slavia and Leverkusen just had that extra experience at that stage of the tournament n another player or 2 for us of a higher quality can propel us to next round in Europe.

5.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 10:57:53
On our day I reckon we could beat any of the above mentioned. As much as I would enjoy a rematch with slavia I would rather miss them as I feel with crowds back it could turn very ugly between fans if away fans are permitted, and that’s the last thing we need! Olympiacos would be my preference as I recon we could brush them a side easier than most.