Rangers have made a solid start to the Europa League and are in good shape to, at least, make the play-off round under Philippe Clement.
The manager got the response that he was looking for from his squad as they bounced back from the defeat to Kilmarnock, that Ibrox wasn’t empty at 90 minutes shows fans haven’t fully lost faith just yet.
There are still five games to go in the newly revamped Europa League league phase set-up, but how are the other clubs on Rangers fixture list getting on?
How Rangers next opponents in Europa League are performing
Next up is Olympiacos, to make things easy for comparison, they lost to Lyon 2-0 and beat Malmo 1-0, both away from home, with their most recent result a 1-0 win over Braga and sit one place below Rangers in 12th place on the table.
An away trip to face Nice is Rangers fifth game and despite their Ligue 1 status, they currently sit 32nd out of 36 teams.
This doesn’t tell the full story though and have had two difficult games against Lazio and Real Sociedad on their record, although the defeat to Ferencvaros was unexpected.
Rangers, despite being on their travels, will hope to get something from these two games because the next two are the hardest on paper.
Here are the remaining games and when they take place:
Matchday 1 – September 26 – Malmo vs Rangers
Matchday 2 – October 3 – Rangers vs Lyon
Matchday 3 – October 24 – Rangers vs FCSB
Matchday 4 – November 7 – Olympiacos vs Rangers
Matchday 5 – November 28 – Nice vs Rangers
Matchday 6 – December 12 – Rangers vs Tottenham Hotspur
Matchday 7 – January 23 – Manchester United vs Rangers
Matchday 8 – January 30 – Rangers vs Union Saint-Gilloise
Rangers Europa League league phase sees Battles of Britain
Spurs come to Ibrox in December and it would be a surprise if they drop from their lofty second position between now and then.
Ange Postecoglu has been rotating his squad but he will be unlikely to take it easy when he returns to Glasgow, for obvious reasons.
What is exciting, if Rangers can maintain the sort of performance they showed against FCSB, will be the trip to Old Trafford to face a side who seem to be every bit as inconsistent.
Three draws see them sit in 21st place and just inside the play-off spots on goal difference.
If Rangers need a win on matchday eight, Union Saint Gilloise coming to Ibrox isn’t a bad fixture to have to do it in.
Currently 29th in the league, the might not have anything to play for by the time January comes around.
With two of Rangers best performances of the season coming in the Europa League, and some of their opponents struggling, Thursday nights could once again provide some solace from domestic discomfort.
