Alashkert suffered a shock defeat on Sunday afternoon, just days before their Europa League playoff first leg against Rangers.
The Armenian champions are set to face the Gers at Ibrox on Thursday night after defeating Kairat Almaty 3-2 on aggregate in the previous round.
Their confidence would have been lifted by defeating the Kazakhstani side and they may have been fancying their chances at an upset given how poor Rangers were over the two legs of their Champions League qualifying defeat to Malmo.
However, their bubble may have been burst somewhat by a shock domestic result on Sunday.
Alashkert lost 2-0 at home to FC Van in the Armenian Premier League, with the goals coming in the space of eight second-half minutes.
It’s a shocking result for the reigning champions, who also lost at home on the opening day of the season to Ararat-Armenia.
Alashkert aren’t exactly a club with a huge history, given that they were founded in 1990.
However, FC Van are an even newer name in Armenian football, having only been founded in May 2019 by Armenian-Russian businessman Oleg Ghukasov.
A defeat to a club that has only existed for a little over two years is hardly the best way to prepare for a trip to Ibrox and the result will raise the hopes of Rangers fans that their team will be able to effectively finish off the tie in Glasgow before the 3000-mile trip to Yerevan for the second leg.
Supporters will also be hoping for new signings at Ibrox before the end of the month and assistant manager Gary McAllister has provided a transfer update.