Much has been made of Rangers European record in recent years aside from an injury affected “blip” in the Champions League last season.
You could argue that Steven Gerrard’s legacy isn’t 55 but our current ranking of 25 amongst the continent’s elite, a standing that could see us protected and Celtic left on the outside looking in.
There are, of course, caveats to such situations and one that has been made complicated for Rangers after one European fixture was won on penalties that could affect the Champions League for us in 2025/26.
Rangers given Champions League reward for European form
As things stand, Scotland, as a country are ranked 10 on UEFA’s coefficient list with the Czech Republic in 11.
Unfortunately, due to every other Scottish club failing on an annual basis in Europe, they have now closed the gap to just 0.5.
Basically, one good result away from overtaking us.
Going into last night’s fixtures and the clash with Benfica at Ibrox, it was Rangers against three clubs from Czechia and, Viktoria Plzen’s penalty success to progress to the quarter finals of the Europa Conference League leaves things on a knife edge.
One draw in either of their next two games against Fiorentina and Scotland drop to 11.
Now, this is where it gets complicated.
The consequences differ for Rangers because of our recent record, for once, we are being rewarded by UEFA.
Should we win the league next season under Gers boss Philippe Clement – 2024/25 – we would still make the reformed group stage of the Champions League.
If Celtic win the league, they would have to play in qualifiers and no longer be able to benefit from our success in European competition.
What this means in terms of safety nets and dropping into the Europa League isn’t quite clear yet due to the new format of the UEFA tournaments but it is reassuring that, if Plzen pick up more points, that it isn’t all bad news.
For Rangers at least.
And, after all, that is what really matters.
