Rangers fans might have their eyes on Europa League glory but Celtic are already laughing all the way to the bank via the Champions League knockouts.
The Gers might have guaranteed safe passage to the Europa League last 16 with a winnable tie against Bodo/Glimt, FC Twente, Anderlecht or Fenerbahce lying in wait.
Celtic on the other hand need a miracle to get through their Champions League playoff with German giants Bayern Munich.
But whilst the prospects of winning their respective European competition might be drastically different on either side of Glasgow, so are the finances.
And there are over 19 million reasons why Rangers can ill-afford another season where Celtic dine at the top table as they battle it out in the Europa League.
Celtic’s Champions League earnings dwarf Rangers in Europa League
The Swiss Ramble have laid bare the financial disparity between the Europa League and Champions League and thus Rangers and Celtic this season.
Rangers stumbled in this season’s Champions League qualifiers, the Hampden relocation not helping a capitulation against Dynamo Kyiv with a new squad.
Celtic, courtesy of Rangers’ good work in the Europa League in recent seasons, earned a third straight bye into the Champions League group stages.
It’s been a monumentally beneficial stint in the revamped competition for the Parkhead club.
Not only did Celtic qualify for the knockouts – albeit having played three of the competition’s bottom five clubs – but they’ve banked €38m (£31.5m) in the process.
Conversely, for Rangers’ exploits in the Europa League the Ibrox club have earned only €14.5m (£12m).
That’s despite the Ibrox side playing four of the top seven and still reaching the competition’s last 16.
That’s a disparity of €23.5m (£19.5m) and Rangers can be under no illusions that no matter what happens in this season’s Scottish Premiership, Champions League qualification is essential next season.
The winners of this season’s Premiership will take part in a Champions Playoff whilst the runners up will have to go through three qualifying rounds.
Rangers must become a Champions League club
Don’t get it twisted here; Rangers’ impressive progress in the Europa League is not to be sniffed at.
Rangers played four of the eventual top seven and still managed to earn a bye to the last 16 by finishing eighth in the table.
The fact Rangers are well placed to go on and make a fist of reaching the final in Bilbao is also massive and we don’t need to tell you how big winning the trophy would be.
We’d take it over simply qualifying for the Champions League millions any day.
But the reality is poor decision making at Rangers has allowed Celtic to open up a monumental financial gap over the last three years.
Celtic’s longer term player trading vision, their continuing success at building and selling assets and the repeated Champions League qualifications have them in another stratosphere financially.
Rangers meanwhile have squandered every penny gained through recent successes, both on the pitch and off it, with the club going through an extreme period of downsizing this season.
The Rangers board have bit the bullet and accept we’ll need to box clever in order to overcome Celtic on a long-term basis.
But part of that is qualifying for the Champions League so that our Old Firm rivals aren’t getting their hands on £20m we’re not season-on-season.
Whatever happens this season, we need to be prepared for the mire of the Champions League qualifiers and we have got to reach the competition next season if we’re serious about challenging Celtic.
Well, unless we win this season’s Europa League, then we’ll automatically qualify…
