Rangers have found out who they could face in the Europa League Round of 16 after the competition’s playoff round was concluded.
The Gers will be one of eight seeded group winners in this morning’s draw, which is set to take place at 11AM GMT in Nyon, Switzerland.
This means the Ibrox side will avoid clashes with West Ham, Brighton, Atalanta, Villarreal, Slavia Prague, and Bayer Leverkusen, who won also won their respective groups.
The runners up from the group stage entered a special Europa League playoff against the third place sides from the Champions League group stages.
After this week’s round of fixtures, those ties have now been concluded with Rangers finding out the eight teams they could face in this morning’s draw.
Europa League Playoff round concluded
Portuguese giants Benfica overcame Toulouse 2-1 on aggregate, the Ligue 1 side unable to overturn the first leg result after a 0-0 draw in France.
Italian giants AC Milan did enough enough in the first leg with a 3-0 win over Stade Rennais, who managed to beat the Serie A side 3-2 in the return but crashed out 5-3 on aggregate.
Bundesliga club Freiburg narrowly overcame French side RC Lens 3-2 in Germany to progress, meaning Oscar Cortes won’t be getting an early reunion with the Ligue 1 side.
Azerbaijani side Qarabag accomplished one of the upsets of the round, their 4-2 win away to Braga in Portugal preceding a 3-2 defeat at home.
AS Roma are also in the hat after defeating Dutch champions Feyenoord on penalties, the two sides playing out back-to-back 1-1 draws.
The runners-up from Rangers’ group, Sparta Prague, pulled off an astonishing late comeback to ditch Galatasaray.
Having lost the first leg 3-2, the Czech side scored three goals in the final quarter of the game to secure safe passage to the Round of 16.
Ligue 1 outfit Marseille overcame the sacking of Gennaro Gattuso to down Shakhtar 3-1 (5-3) in France, meaning a trip to the Volksparkstadion has been officially ruled out.
Sporting Lisbon also progressed at the expense of Cedric Itten and BSC Young Boys, a 1-1 draw enough after a 3-1 win in Switzerland last week.
Rangers await Europa League Round of 16 draw
With the names now confirmed for the Europa League Round of 16 draw, Rangers fans are awaiting updates with baited breath.
The Gers will fancy their chances of an extended run in the competition after overcoming a group containing Real Betis, Sparta Prague, and Aris Limassol.
Rangers have also regularly rubbed shoulders with the best at this level and after reaching the Europa League Final in 2022, there will be few in the competition who fancy a trip to Ibrox.
A trip to Italy to face AC Milan or AS Roma perhaps present the trickiest potential ties of the round, whilst clashes with the likes of Benfica and Sporting Lisbon are routes also fraught with danger.
A post-Champions League 1992 grudge match with Marseille might also appeal to some supporters, whilst Sparta Prague proved they’re no pushovers in a competitive group stage.
Of all the matches, perhaps facing Freiburg or Qarabag are the most advantageous of the round but everyone knows at this level there are no easy games.
It’s now all eyes on Switzerland for Rangers fans after the participants in the Europa League Round of 16 draw were confirmed. Send it!
