Rangers will discover their Champions League opponents later this afternoon when the draw takes place in Istanbul at around 5pm UK time.
It feels good doesn’t it.
The full show will be available on BT Sports via TV and YouTube, below.
The victory over PSV Eindhoven is a very famous one and securing a seat at the top table foes a long way toward making up for the significant disappointment of squandering the Premiership title last season as well as the heartache in Seville at the Europa League Final.
Now, Gio van Bronckhorst leads a Rangers team into the Champions League, ending a 12 year absence for the club in Europe’s premier club competition.
What is the target for Rangers in the Champions League?
Anything now is a bonus.
Realistically, getting out of the group into the Last 16 is almost beyond reach, except for a very fortunate draw to leave the door open. That isn’t being defeatist, just honest.
Third place and a spot in the knockout round (L32) of the Europa League would be fantastic and definitely something to aim for, but that all depends on who comes out of the draw to face the Gers given the strength in all three pots.
Who could Rangers face in the Champions League?
Rangers are in Pot 4.
Pot 1 contains the current Champions League and Europa League winners (Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt) and the champions of six top European leagues. The other pots are made up based on UEFA’s Club coefficient rankings.
Pot 1: Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, Man City, PSG, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Porto, Ajax.
Pot 2: Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, RB Leipzig.
Pot 3: Borussia Dortmund, Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Napoli, Sporting, Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica.
Pot 4: Club Brugge, Celtic, Marseille, Viktoria Plzen, Maccabi Haifa, Rangers, Copenhagen, Dinamo Zagreb
When do Rangers Champions League group games take place?
The winter World Cup means a condensed Champions League schedule over an eight-week period instead of the usual twelve, into December.
Matchday 1: 6/7 September
Matchday 2: 13/14 September
Matchday 3: 4/5 October
Matchday 4: 11/12 October
Matchday 5: 25/26 October
Matchday 6: 1/2 November
The best and worst possibilities for Rangers?
Ideally, you want a mix of glamour and beatable opposition. There is also a chance of the proverbial ‘group of death’ or a somewhat underwhelming set of opponents.
Big Guns? – Man City, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Rangers.
Perfect? AC Milan, Liverpool, Shakhtar Donetsk, Rangers
Boring? Porto, Sevilla, RB Salzburg, Rangers
Familiarity? Eintracht Frankfurt, Sevilla, Sporting, Rangers.
All will be revealed very soon, but all that matters is that the Rangers are back in the Champions League.