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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

Rangers' Champions League latest as Servette & Genk set up winner-takes-all tie

Rangers' next Champions League qualification opponents remain unclear after the first leg between Genk and Servette.

The Belgian and Swiss sides played out a 1-1 draw last night, meaning it's all to play for in the second leg next week.

The prize for the winners will be a trip to Ibrox first up in the third qualifying round of UEFA's top club competitions.

Tolu Arokodare fired Genk into an early lead in Switzerland after just 21 minutes player. 

However, experienced defender Steve Rouiller equalised with ten minutes left on the clock to ensure that the game remains in the balance heading into next week's decider.

Genk will be looking to make home advantage count at the Cegeka Arena.

Whoever progresses to face Rangers, the first leg of the next round tie will be played in Glasgow, with the return leg then either played in Belgium or Switzerland depending on who progresses.

Michael Beale's side will have to get through two qualifying rounds if they're to reach the Champions League group stages like last term.

Last August, Giovanni van Bronckhorst guided the Light Blues to the £30million European windfall with wins over Union Saint-Gilloise and PSV Eindhoven.

Meanwhile, Leon Balogun has slotted back into life on and off the park at Ibrox following his emotional return to Rangers.

But he is still waiting for the final piece of the jigsaw to be put in place as friend and defensive partner Connor Goldson works towards his own Light Blues comeback.

The relationship between Balogun and Goldson was integral to Rangers during their march towards title 55 and the duo will once again have significant roles to play as Michael Beale sets his sights on the silverware in the coming months.

Goldson will be one of the first names on the teamsheet sooner rather than later as he continues his recovery from the injury setback that brought a premature end to last term and left the Englishman facing a race against time to be fit for the big kick-off this time around.

The loss of Leon King further compounded Beale’s problems at the back and a move for Balogun ticked all the right boxes as he signed on at Ibrox for a second time.

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