Rangers have made it through to the Europa League group stage.
Rangers have advanced into the group stages of the Europa League – and the Daily Record report that qualification was worth £10million to the Ibrox side.
The Gers take on Celtic in the first Old Firm derby of the season later today, and they head into the game having received a monumental boost on Thursday evening.
A 1-1 draw against Russian side Ufa – even with nine men after red cards for Alfredo Morelos and Jon Flanagan – saw the Gers advance into the group stage of the Europa League with a 2-1 aggregate win.
It has been a long journey over the summer, as Rangers have seen off Macedonia’s FK Shkupi, Osijek of Croatia, Slovenia’s Maribor and then Ufa of Russia in a surprise run under Gerrard.
Whilst the attention has immediately turned back to the Old Firm game, Rangers’ Europa League qualification has seen them drawn into a group alongside Villarreal, Spartak Moscow and Rapid Vienna in a fascinating group.
Now, the Daily Record report that even just qualifying for the group stage has seen Rangers earn a huge windfall of £10million, which – if simplified – means Rangers may have earned back the cash they spent on new signings this summer.
Steven Gerrard was allowed to bring in a host of players for around £10million in total this summer, and breaking even with Europa League qualification means that the signing spree has already paid dividends for the Gers compared to last summer.
Last summer’s Europa League qualifying campaign ended at the first hurdle with a shock defeat to Progres Niederkorn of Luxembourg, with the night of their exit ending with then-boss Pedro Caixinha arguing with Rangers fans in a bush.
This time, Rangers battled with nine men to cap off their eight-game-long qualifying campaign with a deserved group stage place – and if that difference doesn’t sum up the difference in Rangers under Gerrard, then nothing does.
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