After their trip to the Seaside it’s all eyes on Switzerland for Rangers and the UEFA headquarters for the Champions League third qualifying round draw as they prepare to discover their first hurdle in a bid to reach the group stage of Europe’s premier competition for the first time in 12 years.
The Ibrox side will be seeded for Monday’s draw and there are five potential opponents for last season’s Europa League finalists. The light blue legions will be looking at each and trying to work out what would be the most favourable draw as they look to succeed where they failed last season after losing to Malmo by reaching the play-off round.
There are so many things to be considered, not least at which stage each of the teams are at in their season. FC Midtjylland, for example, kicked off their league campaign at the weekend while AEK Larnaca - who they face in the second qualifying round this midweek for the chance to even be in the next round - don’t start until the end of August.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst watched his side beat Blackpool in their first full pre-season friendly following the abandonment of their match against Sunderland due to floodlight failure seven days earlier. They face West Ham United on Tuesday followed by Spurs on Saturday in the final matches before the big Scottish Premiership kick off when they take on Livingston in west Lothian.
That trip across the M8 comes just days before the first leg of that massive first leg of their third round qualifier with the return seven days later. While the Gers were winning at Bloomfield Road, Record Sport takes a look at how each of their potential rivals were getting on at the weekend and in general during pre-season.
Monaco
This is the one team Rangers would probably rather avoid. But it was proved that their defence could be vulnerable as they tossed away a two-goal lead in a 2-2 friendly draw against Inter Milan. But they can be frightening going the other way and Aleksandr Golovin, with a clinical finish, and Wissam Ben Yedder were both on target in the first half in Ferrara.
Philippe Clement’s men are now unbeaten in five pre-season matches after wins over Cercle Brugge and Portimonense and draws against St Gallen and Austria Vienna. They take on Porto next weekend before a clash against Southampton where Joe Aribo could become a secret scout for his old club.
Monaco - who handed a debut to former Liverpool man Takumi Minamino again Inter - are in good form but out of all the potential sides Rangers could face would be a week behind the Light Blues in terms of preparation while the rest are ahead.
Union Saint-Gilloise
Last season’s surprise package in Belgium thumped Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s former club 4-0 on Saturday although the fact Copenhagen stuck seven past the Rotterdam club, who reached the Europa Conference League final, without reply prior to that perhaps puts that scoreline into a bit of perspective.
However, it’s still a sign of the danger the Jupiler Pro League side could pose to the Light Blues under new boss Karel Geraerts who stepped up from his role as assistant to Felice Mazzu after he left to join Anderlecht as Vincent Kompany’s replacement.
The thumping victory comes after pre-season friendly draws against Brighton, the Belgians have the same owners as the Premier League outfit, and Sporting Lisbon ahead of their domestic league kick off on July 23 which means they would be one week ahead of the Ibrox side in terms of preparation if they were to meet.
Sturm Graz
The Austrians also hit the goal trail with a 6-0 rout over minnows SC Rothis in the first round of the Austrian Cup and are another side who kick off competitive league action on July 23 when Christian Ilzer’s men take on Wolfsberg in their Bundesliga opener.
Sturam Graz’s biggest result of pre-season was a 2-1 victory over Turkish giants Galatasaray. Danish teenage striker Rasmus Hojlund netted a double as they came from behind to win that one and he is a player attracting a lot of attention.
Sturm Graz played Czech side Brno on the same day as Galatasaray, fielding two different line-ups, where they were held to a scoreless draw. They also had draws against Austrian minnows Liefering and Blau-Weis Linz.
FC Midtjylland
The Danes have a tie to focus on to ensure they will be in the third qualifying round as they have to get past AEK Larnaca first on Tuesday.
Celtic’s conquerers last season kicked of their Danish Superliga campaign with a 1-1 draw against Randers on Friday night. Gustav Isaksen fired them in front but Randers levelled through Adam Andersson. Now they will watch the draw with interest as they prepare for their first leg at home to the Cypriots.
AEK Larnaca
The Cypriots battled out an entertaining 2-2 draw against APOEL Nicosia in a friendly ahead of they trip to Denmark for the first leg of their second round qualifier which will be the the club’s debut in this competition.
They have a real Spanish influence under new boss Jose Luis Oltra and have had an impressive pre-season, including a 3-2 win over Rapid Vienna who held Celtic to a 2-2 friendly draw.
Their games against FC Midtjylland apart, the Cypriots don’t have any competitive matches until the league kicks off at the end of August so that could be an advantage to Rangers if they are drawn together and Neil Lennon - who knows a thing about these nerve-wracking qualifiers from his time in charge at Parkhead - could even help out his former rivals with the lowdown with the Irishman now in charge of Omonia Nicosia.
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