Rangers, if they see off Union Saint-Gilloise in the final qualifying round of the Champions League, will play PSV Eindhoven or Monaco for a coveted place in the group stages.
UEFA draws are never the easiest things to follow and why they weren’t made all at the same time or after the second leg next week is beyond me, all it does is detract from the build up to tonight’s game.
This shouldn’t have any bearing on how motivated the Rangers players are or the tactics that Giovanni van Bronckhorst decides to implement, but what it does do is create a clear picture of the task in hand should we want to join the big boys at the top table.
We knew it was going to be one of four teams for some time and the PSV Eindhoven/Monaco tie was always the one that fans wanted to avoid. PSV’s hammering of Ajax at the weekend an indication of how well along their preparations for the season are and the money they have spent, the French outfit having also invested heavily.
We have beaten better teams in the Europa League in recent years, the likes of Porto, Benfica, RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund have all tried, and failed, to beat us, nobody would want to draw us either, let’s remember that.
Four games, that’s all we have to play but there should be no lapses in concentration or players looking beyond our two legs with the Belgians first of all – we have restored our reputation in Europe but not to the extent that we can just turn up and win, remember what happened after the last time we got to a European final?