UEFA have narrowed down Rangers’ potential opponents for the First Qualifying Round of the Europa League.
There are five possible draws for Steven Gerrard’s side, which, because the preliminary round is as yet uncompleted, translates into seven different potential opponents.
Progres Niederkorn
This is the draw the Rangers fans want to get. It was the Luxembourg side who shocked Pedro Caixinha’s men at this stage back in 2017. They finished fourth in their National Division in last season, a full 15 points behind Champions F91 Dudelange [Soccerway]. If the Gers do receive this juicy draw, they will hope to avoid a repeat upset at the Josy Barthel Stadium.
Cardiff Metropolitan University
For Progres to make it through to QR1, though, they will have to defeat Cardiff Met. It’s quite remarkable that a University team has even made it to the Preliminary round. However, they certainly earned it, after a penalty shoot-out playoff win against Bala Town last month. Cardiff Met are the lowest ranked of the potential opponents. That’s hardly surprising though, considering their team is mainly comprised of Masters and Ph.D. students.
B36 Torshavn
B36 finished third in the Meistaradeildin, the Faroe Islands’ premier footballing competition, in 2018 [Soccerway]. They play their home matches in the Gundadular Stadium in the capital city. Last season, they made it to the QR3 but lost 8-0 on aggregate to Besiktas.
Inter Turku
Inter finished a lowly seventh in the Finnish Veikkausliiga in 2018 [Soccerway]. However, they qualified for the Europa League by virtue of winning Suomen Cup. They play their home matches at the Veritas Stadium in Turku, which has a capacity of just over 9000. This is the first time they have made it to qualifying since 2013-14.
KR Reykjavik
KR finished fourth in the Icelandic Urvalsdeid in 2018 [Soccerway]. They operate out of the KR-vollur stadium in the nation’s capital. Remarkably, it has a seated capacity of less than 2000. Therefore, presumably, their home tie will be played at a different venue. KR’s last foray into Europe was two seasons ago when they made it to QR2 before losing 5-1 on aggregate to Maccabi Tel Aviv.
FC Prishtina
Prishtina came in second in the most recent Kosovo Superliga campaign [Soccerway]. They play in the sizeable 13,500 capacity Fadil Vokrri Stadium. Last season, they made it through the Preliminary round, before falling on penalties to Fola Esch of Luxembourg in QR1.
St Joseph’s
‘The Saints’ came third in the 2018/19 edition of Gibraltar’s Premier Division [Soccerway]. They operate out of the 2000 capacity Victoria Stadium and lost out in QR1 last time round to B36 Torshavn on penalties. They will do battle with Prishtina in the preliminary round, with the winners progressing to QR1.