GIOVANNI van Bronckhorst is aiming to guide Rangers through the Champions League qualifying rounds to earn a spot in the group stage of Europe's elite competition.

The Ibrox boss knows his side will have to go through the third qualifying round and play-off round in the Champions League to join Celtic in the group stage.

And it's already between five clubs for who Rangers could face in the third qualifying round with any of FC Midtjylland or AEK Larnaca, Monaco, Sturm Graz and Union Saint-Gilloise potential opponents.

Rangers enter the competition as a seeded team in League Path in theory offering an 'easier' draw than unseeded teams.

Now, new data has analysed Rangers' chances of advancing to the Champions League group stage, or falling into the Europa League.

A detailed simulation using club coefficient and elo rating has predicted the chances of Rangers navigating the qualifiers in the Champions League and beyond.

According to the data, shared on Swiss Football Data and compiled by user elkjiaer is back, Rangers have a 37.8 per cent chance of Champions League group stage football.

And should they fail to qualify, Van Bronckhorst's side are backed by 62.2 per cent chance of making the Europa League group stage.

That's because UEFA qualification rules mean Rangers are guaranteed group stage football in one of the Champions League or Europa League.

Rangers will first compete in the Champions League third qualifying round with a spot in the Champions League play-off up for grabs. A win there would earn a spot in the group stage.

However, a loss in the third qualifying round would see Rangers drop into the Europa League group stage as they are going competing in the League Path.

Should Rangers advance to the Champions League play-off and then be knocked out then a spot in the Europa League group stage would still be secured.