Who Rangers could face in Europa League quarter-finals after victory v Red Star Belgrade
By James Evans
Rangers progressed through to the Europa League quarter-final stage last night following a 4-2 aggregate win over Crvena Zvezda.
The win over two legs means that the Gers will be playing in their first European quarter-final since 2008.
Despite losing 2-1 last night, an early goal in the second half from Ryan Kent ensured Rangers’ place in the last eight of the Europa League.
The Glaswegians already had one eye on the next stage after they defeated the Serbian side 3-0 in the first leg at Ibrox.
Gio van Bronckhorst’s side will now have aspirations of going all the way to the final in Seville in what has been a remarkable adventure for the Scottish side.
Rangers will find out who they will play in both the quarter-final and the semi-final stage, should they progress, today. The draw will take place at 12:30 in Nyon.
Now that the Round of 16 is in the books, here are the teams that the Gers could face in the quarter-finals of the Europa League:
- Atalanta
- FC Barcelona
- Braga
- Frankfurt
- RB Leipzig
- Lyon
- West Ham
Despite there being no easy team left in the competition, there are a couple of teams that the Light Blues will be keeping a close eye on.
Both Braga and Frankfurt are teams in which Bronckhorst will be hoping to draw in the last eight. The worst-case scenario is that the side faces either Xavi’s Barcelona or RB Leipzig.
Van Bronckhorst will be itching to avoid the Spanish and German giants for as long as they possibly can.
As well as those two teams, the likes of Atalanta and Lyon could cause the team from Glasgow a lot of problems.
In other Rangers news, Ally McCoist believes that Rangers should give Leon Balogun a new contract.