Rangers have endured a rollercoaster of a season with many ups and downs – but they are still on track to qualify for the Champions League.
Well, not exactly the league phase proper but finishing second in the Premiership come May will guarantee Rangers entry to the second qualifying round of UEFA’s premier competition.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  CelticCeltic | 31 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 92 | 20 | 72 | 78 |
| 2 |  RangersRangers | 31 | 20 | 5 | 6 | 66 | 31 | 35 | 65 |
Unfortunately, Rangers are left with a mammoth task to reach the league phase from there. They will have to navigate their way through three two-legged ties.
That would culminate in the play-off round either for the Champions League or the Europa League, the latter a competition Rangers have a stunning record in.
And if Rangers do reach a UEFA play-off round early next season, their chances of getting through it will have increased thanks to the SPFL.
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SPFL to allow postponement of Premiership match between UEFA play-off legs
The SPFL haven’t been so kind to Rangers of late after banning 500 fans for the club’s next Premier Sports Cup outing at Hampden Park, as a result of the use of pyrotechnics.
But they have just announced a new rule change that will see Rangers benefit if they reach a UEFA play-off round in August.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the SPFL will allow Rangers to postpone their Premiership fixture that falls in between the first and second legs of the play-off round.
It means the manager and his first-team will have more time and breathing space to prepare for the second leg of the play-off tie.
The SPFL’s statement reads as follows: “The SPFL Board has approved a new policy which will allow William Hill Premiership clubs to postpone one specific league match next season to enhance preparations for UEFA Play-Off round qualifiers.
“The move allows clubs to postpone their William Hill Premiership fixture in matchday three, which is scheduled to take place on the weekend of 23/24 August, between the first and second legs of the UEFA Play-Off round fixtures in the 2025/26 season.
“The SPFL’s Competitions Working Group had been exploring how the league could best support clubs aiming to reach the league phase of UEFA competitions amid an extremely congested fixture calendar, due to the additional dates required for UEFA club competitions from this season.
“The Competitions Working Group – which includes a number of top flight clubs – has now unanimously made a recommendation to the SPFL Board to introduce a policy allowing any club participating in a match in a UEFA Club Competition Play-Off round to apply to the SPFL for a postponement of its William Hill Premiership round 3 match without the consent of its opponent.
“To date, any such postponement would have required the agreement of the opposing club and the league. The new policy, which has the support of the SPFL’s broadcast partners, has been approved by the SPFL Board for season 2025/26.”
SPFL explain why rule change will benefit Rangers in Europe
This is fantastic news for Rangers and other Scottish clubs competing at that stage of the UEFA qualifying process.
Congested fixture schedules, particularly around the European qualifying and play-off rounds, have hampered Rangers in recent seasons.
The SPFL finally seeing sense over this area is a positive move forward, with the governing body’s chief operating officer Calum Beattie explaining: “We are understandably very keen to support our clubs in qualifying for the league phase of UEFA competitions.
“There are huge benefits in having our clubs in the latter stages of European football. Not only does it help Scotland’s UEFA coefficient ranking and the reputation of our league, but there are clear commercial benefits for the competing clubs, as well as important solidarity payments for our non-participating clubs.
“It is possible we will have a number of clubs participating in the play-off round for UEFA competitions in season 2025/26 but due to the extremely congested nature of our fixture calendar, our options to support clubs are unfortunately very limited.
“This new policy has received extremely positive feedback from our clubs on the SPFL Competitions Working Group, which believe it will be beneficial in their aims of reaching the league phase of UEFA competitions, and we’re pleased to be introducing it for next season.”
“In season 2025/26, William Hill Premiership winners will enter the Champions League in the Play-Off round, while Premiership runners-up will enter in qualifying round 2.
“The team in third place will enter at Europa League qualifying round 2, and the fourth placed team will enter the Conference League in qualifying round 2.
“The Scottish Cup winners – or the club which finishes third, if the Scottish Cup is won by the William Hill Premiership winners – will enter the Europa League play-off round.”
