Rangers draw Panathinaikos in UEFA Champions League qualifying

Rangers have been drawn against Panathinaikos in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.

It's a less-than-ideal tie for last season's Scottish Premiership runners-up, with Swiss side Servette and Norway's Brann the other two unseeded teams the Gers could have drawn.

The clash will be Russell Martin's first competitive match in charge of the Ibrox club, which Rangers are 10/11 to win, with the first leg scheduled for either 22nd or 23rd July ahead of the return leg in Greece a week later.

While Martin's philosophy, honed during his time with Southampton as he guided the side to the Premier League, should stand him in good stead in Glasgow, it may take time to get his ideas across, and he'll need the backing of the typically raucous Ibrox faithful in order to take a positive result to the second leg.

Should Rangers get through, they'll be seeded once again for the third qualifying round, where they'll play either Red Bull Salzburg, Fenerbahce, Viktoria Plzen, Nice, Servette or Brann.

Rangers have a friendly scheduled with Club Brugge at the start of July before a training camp at St George's Park ahead of his first official match in charge.

Should Rangers beat the Greek outfit, they'll have two more qualifying rounds to get through in order to reach the league phase.

If they do successfully get through qualifying, it will be only the second time in 15 years the club have reached the UEFA Champions League proper, and would guarantee at least eight games amongst Europe's elite under the new format.

Panathinaikos finished 10 points behind Olympiacos last season prior to the Championship play-offs, but were much improved following the appointment of Rui Vitoria in October, who guided Benfica to two straight Primeira Liga titles in his first two seasons in charge back in 2016 and 2017, later leaving to take charge of Al Nassr.

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Liam Williams

• Rangers F.C.
• UEFA Champions League
• Scottish Football
• European Football
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