Jurgen Klopp was left smiling as Liverpool avoided the Champions League big guns - and presented with a mouthwatering Battle of Britain instead.
The Reds boss insisted he was “excited” by the challenge of a “proper group”, and the prospect of facing Rangers in a game at the summit of European football that has UK bragging rights at stake. Neither Liverpool nor Klopp have faced Rangers in a competitive game, though the two clubs have played each other 10 times in friendlies over the years, with the first way back in 1892.
And the Anfield boss beamed: “The first thing to say is this is a proper, proper challenge. Rangers are a new opponent for us but we know them, too.
“Their story over the last few years has been really interesting and they did really, really well to qualify for the group stage, given the teams they were up against in the qualifying matches. We also know a couple of their players well. Ryan Kent has had a great development since moving to Scotland (from Liverpool) and Ben Davies is just starting out on his journey with Rangers, so it will be good to come up against them.”
The Scottish club reached the knockout of the Champions League with a pulsating victory over PSV Eindhoven this week, and their reward is a huge showdown with Liverpool.
The two clubs have historic ties, with Liverpool’s “Team of Macs” in their early years - made up of Scottish players including several signings from Rangers - and that first meeting in the English club’s inaugural year.
For Klopp though, the bonus is the short travel times, both to Scotland and Ajax, in a season where the Champions League ties are crammed into a few weeks to accommodate the Qatar World Cup.
"The difference this year is that the group stage will be shorter than usual, so we will have to be ready not just for the quality of the opposition but also for the different demands and rhythms," he said.
"But we will not have to look too hard to find information about our opponents. Rangers we know, and we are drawn against Napoli regularly, while it was only a couple of years back we played two tough matches against Ajax. We did not ask for any favours and we have not been given any but this is not a competition where you can look for easy ways through because the standard is always unbelievably high.”
