Rangers will find out their opponents for the first and, should they reach it, the second round of Europa League Qualifying, on 19 June.
The Gers and Aberdeen are seeded for both rounds, as reported by the Scottish Sun. With a coefficient of 5.250, Rangers fill the last spot for QR2.
That means that Steven Gerrard’s side can only be drawn against unseeded teams.
So far, we’ve identified the three easiest and three worst possible draws for QR1.
Now, it’s time to look at QR2, where some big teams enter the fray. The likes of Roma, Wolves, Frankfurt come in for the second round, but because of the protection afforded by their seeding, the Gers are only in danger of facing those clubs in QR3.
Here are the three toughest possible draws in QR2, according to the UEFA coefficient, as published by Kassiesa.
Zrinjski Mostar (Coefficient – 5.250)
Zrinjski finished second in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina. With 19 wins from 33 matches, they ended up just five points behind champions, FK Sarajevo [Soccerway]. They play their home matches in the 25,000 capacity Stadion pod Bijelim Brijegom. Last season, they lost 2-1 on aggregate to Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad in QR3.
Kairat Almaty (Coefficient – 5.000)
Kairat compete in the Kazakhstan Premier League which runs through the summer. Therefore, they will hit EL Qualifying mid-season. They earned their place by finishing second in the 2018 edition of the league, a full 15 points behind winners, Astana [Soccerway]. They also reached QR3 last time around, before losing out to Czech side Sigma Olomouc. Kairat play in the Central Stadium, with a capacity of over 20,000.
AEL Limassol (4.985)
Not to be confused with Apollon, who are reportedly interested in Kyle Lafferty [Scottish Sun], AEL, finished fourth in the Cypriot First Division [Soccerway]. They play their home games at the Tsirion Stadium, with a smallish capacity of approximately 13,000. Although they didn’t feature in Europe last season, they did reach the third round of qualifying in 2017, losing 2-1 on aggregate to Austria Vienna.
