Ibrox View: Rangers could get huge Champions League boost when they deliver 55
Rangers could be set to land a big seeding boost in the 2021/22 Champions League qualifiers, if they go on to win the Scottish Premiership.
Domestic success this season would deliver the 55th league title, and the first since May 2011. It would also be Steven Gerrard’s first silverware in management.
According to a report in The Scotsman, Rangers are on course for the Champions League qualifiers via the ‘Champions Route’, meaning they would come into the competition at the third round of qualifying.
Based on current projections, Gerrard’s men would be ranked seventh of the twelve teams in the draw for that round, meaning they would be unseeded.
Five of the six clubs predicted to be seeded would start off in the first and second rounds of qualifying.
This means that if one of Dinamo Zagreb, Ludogorets, Olympiacos, Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade are eliminated before the third qualifying round, Rangers would be seeded.
This potentially hands a big bonus, as it would allow Rangers to avoid some of the bigger clubs in Europe if they were to qualify for the competition.
Gerrard a master of European football
It’s been a fantastic season for Rangers and their supporters.
They’d have been desperate to prevent arch-rivals Celtic from winning ten domestic league titles in a row. Gerrard’s men look to have made light work of that.
When the end of the season comes, the Gers will be rewarded by Champions League football at Ibrox next year, for the first time since 2010-11. That season under Walter Smith, Rangers were grouped with Manchester United, Valencia and Bursaspor.
If handed the seeding boost, Rangers would have every reason to feel confident in Europe next season. Gerrard is an icon of the competition, famously bringing Liverpool back from three goals down in Istanbul to AC Milan in 2005 to lift the trophy.
Their Europa League campaign will also bring massive confidence. Rangers have dominated Group D, finishing top with 14 points having lost no games. Their two draws came against Portuguese giants Benfica.
In other Rangers news, the Antwerp boss has made a big appeal to the board ahead of the Europa League fixture.