The much anticpated Europa League Last 16 draw proved to be kind to Rangers – in more ways than one.
Whilst Slavia Prague will be respected, as their victory over Leicester merits, they are beatable and the opposition could have been much worse.
Steven Gerrard’s men avoided the big guns such as Arsenal, Man Utd and Spurs as well as Italian giants Milan and Roma.
Further progress is definitely within reach as long as the Gers maintain their high level of performance against the Czech First League leaders.
However, an interesting sub-plot is the race for 11th place in the UEFA co-efficient table for season 2022-23.
Up for grabs is very likely automatic qualification for the Champions League, as detailed by ESPN’s Dale Johnson:
SCOTLAND COEFFICIENT UPDATE
It's exceptionally tight now for 11th place, and a possible direct place in the 2022-23 UCL group stage.
Just 0.025 points separate Scotland and Ukraine, after all three clubs left in won tonight.
11 Scotland 33.125
—-
12 Ukraine 33.100— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) February 25, 2021
This Twitter thread, starting above, lays out the fight between Scotland and Ukraine which essentially becomes a race to the last between Rangers – as Scotland’s sole remaining representative – and Ukraine’s two remaining sides, Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Today’s draw produced the following,
Dynamo Kiev v Villarreal
Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk
Slavia Prague v Rangers
It is clear that Rangers received the more favourable tie of the three sides in question.
With some justification, Rangers – and the other Scottish clubs – can look to the significant qualities of Villarreal and Roma to do them ‘a favour’ by eliminating the Ukrainian clubs.
This would be a major boost for Rangers, who also need to play their part by securing a quarter-final berth, as they seek to push on forward from the current hard fought position of strength.