Rangers' big Champions League Tuesday has started with a bang. Before Giovanni van Bronckhorst 's side have even kicked a ball in the third qualifying round against Union Saint-Gilloise, their potential playoff round opponents have been revealed.
The Ibrox side faced the possibility of drawing the winners of Dynamo Kyiv vs Sturm Graz or PSV Eindhoven vs Monaco. Rangers never seem to do things the easy way on the Continent, so naturally, it was always going to be the latter pairing, wasn't it? Their path to the group stage is now set and there's no denying it's a difficult one. Should van Bronckhorst's team see off Union SG, they'll be off to either France or the Netherlands to face one of two very handy sides. Still, at least it wasn’t Benfica.
A home tie in the first leg has its advantages but, mind you, Rangers did seem to thrive on getting teams "back to Ibrox" in last season's run to the Europa League Final. Rangers may be billed as underdogs if they get past the Belgians but those exploits on the road Seville means they'll hold no fear, no matter who comes next.
The ties are set to be played across August 16/17 and 23/24, with UEFA to confirm exact dates in due course. Here, Record Sport Online takes a closer look at PSV and Monaco.
Who are PSV?
The Eredivisie side are now managed by a club legend in Ruud van Nistelrooy, who is embarking on his first full campaign as boss. For much of last season, they were under the guidance of Roger Schmidt and pushed Ajax all the way in the Dutch league, eventually losing out to Erik ten Hag's much-lauded side by just two points after van Nistelrooy took the reigns in March.
They did, however, beat Ajax 2-1 in the Dutch Cup Final to ensure they did not finish the campaign empty handed and get their new boss off to a promising start. In Europe, they exited Champions League qualifying at the playoff round, dropping into the Europa League group stage where they met this season's CL third round opponents Monaco.
They were unable to beat the Ligue 1 side last year, losing away at drawing at home. PSV failed to progress from their Europa League group, dropping into the Europa Conference League where they narrowly lost to Leicester City in the quarter-final. This summer they've signed highly-rated Xavi Simons after his exit from PSG, Luuk de Jong from Sevilla and Guus Til from Spartak Moscow.
In other words, they're not messing about. They've already made a serious statement of intent by beating 5-3 Ajax in the Johann Cruyff Shield, with Til helping himself to a hat-trick and Simons scoring the fifth late on.
Rangers and PSV last met in the the 2010/11 Europa League last 16. A Jeremain Lens strike in the second leg at Ibrox proved the only goal of the tie and enough to send the Dutch side through at the expense of Walter Smith's men. You'd imagine, if the two teams meet later this month, it'll be just as tight.
Quick facts
FORMED: 1913.
STADIUM: Philips Stadion (35,000)
HONOURS: Dutch league winners 24 times, Dutch cup winners 10 times, European Cup winners once, UEFA Cup winners once.
MANAGER: Ruud van Nistelrooy. Highly decorated former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker replaced Roger Schmidt at PSV in March and guided them to a runners-up spot in the Eredivisie.
STAR MAN: Guus Til. Classy Dutch international was signed in the summer from Spartak Moscow and introduced himself in style last week.
INTERESTING FACT: PSV have played against Scottish opposition eight times in Europe and only won once. Their sole win was in that last meeting with Rangers.
Who are Monaco?
The Ligue 1 side finished a distant third to winners PSG last season but there's little shame in that these days.
They peaked at the right time to secure a Champions League qualification spot, however, winning nine of their last 10 fixtures and that's momentum they'll hope to carry into their meeting with PSV.
Going unbeaten against the Dutch side last term will bring confidence, as will the arrival of Japanese international Takumi Minamino from Liverpool.
Monaco have spent big this summer after raking in €80million from Real Madrid for star man Aurelien Tchouameni. They've splashed €17.8m on Minamino and €12.5m on Breel Embolo from Borussia Monchengladbach, as well as signing Thomas Didillon on-loan from Cercle Brugge.
Manager Phillippe Clement was only appointed back in January and so must take credit for their stellar late season form in France, although they did suffer a somewhat disappointing Europa League exit to Braga, who were, of course, later eliminated by Rangers on their return to the final.
Rangers last played Monaco in the 2000/2001 Champions League group stage. The Ibrox side won 1-0 in France before a 2-2 draw in Glasgow, which they'd certainly take if this time around if both they and Monaco make it to the play off. Rangers' scorer in the victory at the Stade Louis II? A certain Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Quick facts
FORMED: 1924.
STADIUM: Stade Louis II (16,500).
HONOURS: French league winners 8 times, French cup winners 5 times, Champions League runners-up, European Cup-Winners Cup runners-up.
MANAGER: Philippe Clement. Won three titles in a row in Belgian with Genk and then Club Brugges before moving to Monaco in January where they finished third.
STAR MAN: Wissam Ben Yedder. Captain and talisman, the France international netted 25 goals in 29 league starts last season. He cost Monaco £35 million four years ago.
INTERESTING FACT: Monaco's first ever game in European football was against Rangers in the 1961/62 European Cup. They lost 3-2 at home, with Alex Scott scoring a double and Jim Baxter opening the scoring. They also lost 3-2 at Ibrox.
