Rangers’ conquerors Malmö have moved to within touching distance of a major jackpot after pulling off another shock in Champions League qualifying.
Despite being ranked 36 places below Rangers in the UEFA club coefficient, the Swedish champions knocked out the Light Blues in QR3.
Steven Gerrard’s side only performed for 45 minutes of the two-leg tie, with the Scandinavian club triumphing 4-2 on aggregate.
As a reward, they were drawn against PFC Ludogorets in the playoff round.
The Bulgarian champions had pulled off an upset of their own to reach that stage, dumping out Greek champions Olympiacos in QR3.
Yet, while an easier draw on paper than the Greek giants, Ludogorets still have much more European pedigree than Malmö, as shown by their club coefficient ranking of 58th, which is a whopping 30 places above the Swedes (88th).
Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side don’t seem to be overly concerned about reputations, though, and they won the first leg 2-0 in Malmö on Wednesday night.
It means they have one foot in the group stages, with avoiding a defeat by two or more goals in the second leg in Razgrad next week now all that’s required for them to successfully qualify.
Reaching the group stages would guarantee Malmö £13.64m [Scottish Sun], while they would then also be eligible for performance-related bonuses.
If they get there, it will be an impressive achievement, but a tough one to take for Rangers fans, who know that at their best, the Gers are a better side.
Having dropped down to Europa League qualifying, Rangers face Alashkert in their playoff tie and plenty of fans want to see a key man dropped for an exciting 21-year-old.
