MICHAEL BEALE has stressed the importance of Champions League football to Rangers this season, saying that his team will be going ‘hell for leather’ to reach the group stage of Europe’s premier competition.
As Scottish Premiership champions, Celtic have already secured their place in the group section, as well as the tens of millions of revenue that is guaranteed to come with it.
Rangers managed to negotiate qualifiers against Union Saint-Gilloise and PSV Eindhoven last season to match their city rivals, but their campaign ended in some ignominy as they finished it with the worst ever record of a side to have competed in the group stages.
As well as being desperate to atone for that disappointment, Beale is aware of the importance of Champions League football for both the prestige it brings to the club and the finances it offers too.
“We’re going hell for leather to get in the Champions League,” Beale said.
“If we get in and we do well, hopefully getting into Pot 3, that gives you a different thing altogether.
“If we don’t, then we go into a competition that we love, the Europa League. But the aim is to get into the Champions League and be in Europe after Christmas. That is the aim, I think, for every team in Europe but certainly for a Scottish team.
“We know we’ve got group stage football, it was a huge motivation for me coming back. We want it to be Champions League football.
“We know we’ve to play two tough ties to actually get in there, hence why I am so pleased with the speed of getting some players in to give the team time to come together.
“It’s a big part of this club. And there’s a disappointment on last year. You can imagine when the draw was made against PSV it was a difficult tie. It was a hugely impressive victory over two legs to get into the Champions League and that’s been lost.
“So, we need to make up for that, for sure. Our record in Europe in the last five years has, in general, been excellent.
“We’ve beaten some big, big teams at Ibrox and away. Dortmund, Leipzig, Porto, Benfica, Feyenoord, we’ve played against some really top teams. And really grown when you think of the journey from 2018.
“So, it’s a part of this club that’s exciting for the players coming in and me and the staff, we need to be at it in all competitions this year.
“That’s why we are building the squad, trying to build two teams in the building that can play.”
