As Rangers were pulled out of the hat against Belgian side Royal Antwerp, perhaps many fans didn’t know where to look.
This isn’t a majorly glamourous tie but by the same token it is one which could be potentially tricky to navigate given Antwerp’s group stage performance.
An impressive 1-0 win against a strong Tottenham side was caveated with another three victories in the group stage alongside a 2-0 defeat to Spurs in London and a 1-0 home defeat to Austrian’s LASK.
It certainly won’t be an easy match but there are a few reasons why this is a particularly good draw for Rangers.
The first – and most glaringly obvious – is that this is undoubtedly a winnable tie.
Royal Antwerp will prove a stubborn and well organised opponent at a decent level, but their manager is probably right – Rangers are slight favourites.
On top of that, we’ve already played similar and emerged victorious this season.
Rangers earned two wins against a talented Standard Liege side in the group stages, the first an impressive 2-0 win in Belgium before edging out the return 3-2 at Ibrox.
Antwerp are currently one place above Liege in 7th in a tight Jupiler League this season, level on points (25) and eight points off Club Brugge at the top of the division.
If Rangers can beat Standard over two legs, then it bodes well for us going into the match with Antwerp.
On top of all this, the draw could’ve presented us with a further distance to travel as the club battle on four fronts or we could’ve been pitted against a much higher standard of opposition.
Rangers avoided the likes of Real Sociedad, Salzburg, Dynamo Kiev, Braga and Lille to draw Royal Antwerp, and avoided the Champions League teams altogether.
There’s also one final bonus to this draw for Rangers too – there are several matches where the tournament’s favourites are all playing one another.
The outcomes of Real Sociedad v Man Utd, Benfica v Arsenal, Braga v Roma, Salzburg v Villarreal and Lille v Ajax will result in some big names crashing out of the competition before the last 16.
The job for Rangers is now just to get there – and we’ve got every chance to do so against Royal Antwerp, affectionately known as the Great Old in their homeland.
Here’s how the Ibrox club’s supporters reacted to Europa League last 32 draw which saw the Gers draw the Belgian outfit.
