After falling short in a bitterly disappointing Scottish Premiership campaign Rangers will need to go through qualification to reach the Champions League.
The Ibrox side are well aware of the challenge of reaching the Champions League this way having fallen to Malmo in QR3 last season.
This time around, Rangers know they’re guaranteed a spot in the Europa League no matter what happens but with rivals Celtic profiting from our recent European success and entering the competition at the group stages there is pressure to deliver on this front.
Rangers have no-one to blame but themselves for a stuttering and unconvincing domestic season against Scottish football’s dross and the squad will pay the price with a challenging set of qualifiers.
As the Gers eagerly await who they will face in QR3 of the competition, before being forced to navigate a difficult playoff tie, fans already know Ligue 1 Monaco could be amongst the competition.
Rangers could also face Midtjylland/AEK Larnaca, Sturm Graz or Belgian outfit Union Saint-Gilloise at this stage.
Rangers Champions League challenge set as Monaco sign Minamino
Certainly no mugs, AS Monaco are the side to avoid and they’ve flexed their financial muscle and set the challenge by reportedly agreeing a deal for Liverpool attacker Takumi Minamino.
According to Sky Sports, the French side will pay up to £15.5m to sign the Japanese international and it shows that Rangers are in with the big boys already at this stage of the competition.
The notion that the Ibrox club could spend this much money on a player as things stand is remarkably fanciful and the challenge has been set already.
But Rangers will have to find a way to overcome this hurdle and deliver for supporters after letting them down in their failed Premiership defence.
The pressure is beginning to mount and there are fears the club has been gambling on the situation amid an unconvincingly quiet transfer window.