The first leg of Rangers ' Champions League second qualifying round tie against Union Saint-Galloise will be broadcast exclusively live on Premier Sports.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst takes his team to Belgium on Tuesday, August 2 as they kick-off their attempt to reach the group stages of Europe’s premier competition. Union are playing in the Champions League for the first time in their history after finishing second to Jack Hendry’s Club Brugge in the Belgian Pro League last season.
However, they won’t take on the Light Blues in their usual home ground. Union normally play at the Joseph Marien Stadium but the 9400-capacity venue doesn’t meet the required UEFA regulations to stage matches at this level. Instead, they’ll face Rangers on domestic rivals OH Leuven’s home turf. They play in the King Power at Den Dreef Stadion, 18 miles outside of the capital, Brussels. The venue switch will see more travelling fans accommodated for the first leg.
The Belgians will then head to Ibrox the following week for the second leg. Rangers have their sights set on the group stages after going all the way to the Europa League final last season. They were Thursday night regulars on Premier Sports, seeing off the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade and RB Leipzig on their way to meeting Eintracht Frankfurt in the final.
They suffered heartache in Seville however. Joe Aribo put them 1-0 up in Spain, but Raphael Borre equalised before the Bundesliga men won on penalties. Aaron Ramsey missed the decisive spot-kick.
Their run to Seville came after they were dumped out of the Champions League qualifiers last August. Malmo stunned the then-Premiership champions with a 2-1 win in Sweden before repeating the trick at Ibrox with ten men. New Rangers signing Antonio Colak did the damage in Glasgow, bagging a brace.
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