Rangers have qualified for the Champions League play-off round after a stunning comeback win over Union Saint-Gilloise in the third qualifying stage and with that guaranteed a healthy cash boost.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men trailed their Belgian opponents by two goals going into last night's Ibrox return but another famous European night under the lights secured a crack at Dutch giants PSV with James Tavernier, Antonio Colak and Malik Tillman on target in the 3-0 success. That win made for a 3-2 aggregate success and with that scooped at minimum a prize bounty of over £4million for reaching this stage of the competition.
Should Rangers reach the next stage, they won't land this payment as they will land much bigger prize money for reaching the lucrative group stages. Money is handed out for qualifying with clubs able to earn further cash boosts through performance with win and draw bonuses available alongside reaching the knockout stages and the share of TV revenue. Add in ticket sales and it becomes very fruitful.
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A statement on UEFA's website under the sub section 'Share for clubs participating in UCL play-offs reads': "A total of €30m will be paid out to clubs involved in the UCL play-offs: clubs that are eliminated will each receive a fixed payment of €5m. The winners of the play-offs will not receive any specific payment for this round as they will receive payments for participating in the UCL group stage."
PSV overcame a rollercoaster tie of their own against Monaco to reach this stage.
After a 1-1 draw in France, the Dutch side took the lead through one-time Rangers target Joey Veerman but the Ligue 1 side turned the tie on its head to lead 2-1 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate.
But the hosts levelled in the final minute of normal time before winning the showdown in extra-time to win 4-3 over the two-legs.
On facing the Dutch side, Van Bronckhorst said: “It is familiar. It is a familiar team for me. It’s great to see Ruud van Nistelrooy again and there will be so many familiar faces on the bench.
"Fred Witten who was my assistant at Feyenoord a couple of years ago as well. Ooijer who I played with in the national team. It’s a familiar place for me so it will be nice to be back in Holland for a couple of days after so many months in Glasgow.
“We are going to prepare well it is a big chance for us to take the last hurdle and be a team who can play Champions League this season.”
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