Rangers will face Armenian champions Alashkert in a Europa League playoff first leg at Ibrox on Thursday night, as Steven Gerrard’s side bid to reach the group stages of UEFA’s secondary competition for the fourth consecutive season.
There’s decent prize money on offer in the Europa League and the Gers will continue to restore their prestige if they can advance through to the knockout stages and perhaps even progress beyond the Last 16.
However, everyone knows that getting back to the Champions League was the primary goal this season and it’s something the group failed to achieve.
Rangers were eliminated in the third qualifying round by Swedish champions Malmö, who triumphed 4-2 on aggregate.
Steven Davis’ late strike in the first leg provided hope and halfway through the second leg, things were going according to plan, but a shocking second-half performance at both ends of the pitch saw the CL dream die.
It would be easier to accept if the Gers were knocked out by a superior side, as they certainly were in the 2019/20 EL when they were downed by Bayer Leverkusen in the Last 16.
However, that wasn’t the case.
Malmö took their chances well at Ibrox, with Antonio Colak and Anders Christiansen standout performers.
Yet, Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side definitely aren’t anything special, a fact their follow-up performance clearly evidenced.
After their upset at Ibrox, a very similar Malmö XI were defeated 3-2 at home by mid-table Allsvenskan side IFK Göteborg on Saturday.
They won both legs against the Gers but have failed to win their last two league matches, drawing 0-0 at relegation candidates Halmstad last weekend.
These domestic results prove that Malmö had big flaws to exploit, making the exit even harder to swallow.
New opportunities lie ahead with the EL, but especially considering a win over the Swedes would have set up a CL playoff against Ludogorets – who also lack major European pedigree – Rangers’ meek defeat will continue to sting for some time.
Here’s how Rangers’ EL playoff opponents Alashkert fared at the weekend.
