The need for Rangers to be self-sufficient is one that has long since been necessary with a new urgency being placed upon Patrick Stewart as CEO.
Failure to qualify for the Champions League is painful given the £40m windfall, however, failure to qualify for the Europa League would be catastrophic.
There was a £17m loss last season, which shows how important the £20m plus that a European run makes for Rangers is, with light at the end of the tunnel emerging from the complicated qualification system.
Rangers given Champions League qualification hopes
As things stand, Rangers – if they finish second in the Scottish Premiership – will have to play two qualifying rounds and the play-off round to make it into the promised land of the Champions League where Celtic have shown how easy it can be to qualify to the knockout rounds.
According to X site Football Meets Data, Rangers could be promoted to the third qualifying round, reducing the number of ties that they might have to play by one.
With this, comes the safety net of automatic qualification into the Europa League.
This is where it gets complicated.
If the Europa League is won by a team that has already qualified for the Champions League, direct entry is then likely to go to Benfica.
However…..
What do Rangers need to see Champions League boost?
Rangers need a team to win the Europa League that qualifies for the Champions League in their own domestic competition – unless, of course, Philippe Clement can go one further than previous manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Unfortunately, the list isn’t a particularly long one.
Man Utd and Tottenham Hotspur are nowhere near the top four in the Premier League so, they can be ruled out.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  CelticCeltic | 25 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 73 | 12 | 61 | 66 |
| 2 |  RangersRangers | 25 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 51 | 19 | 32 | 53 |
| 3 |  Dundee UtdDundee Utd | 25 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 32 | 28 | 4 | 37 |
| 4 |  AberdeenAberdeen | 25 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 32 | 38 | -6 | 35 |
| 5 |  HibernianHibernian | 25 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 33 |
The most realistic winners come from; Lazio, Athletic Club, Eintracht Frankfurt, Porto and Lyon, with the latter the only team not currently sitting in a Champions League qualification place.
If it’s any consolation, Rangers’ chances of making the top eight of the Europa League were considerably lower.
