ANYTHING can happen in football but Rangers face an almost impossible mission in order to secure Europa League qualification.

The proverbial mountain stands in between Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men and third place in Champions League Group A. Ajax assume that position at present with their own tally of three points, secured at Rangers expense on Matchday One. It will be a source of regret for the Ibrox club that a less severe scoreline in Amsterdam would have resulted in a far more realistic shot at progression. It is what it is. Rangers know what they need to do.

It is far from a meaningless game in terms of momentum, pride and finance. In the dressing room as well as the boardroom, there is still plenty on the line even though it appears that Rangers have left it far too late to achieve European football post-Christmas. Unless a remarkable result is secured, it would be the first time since 2018/19 - Steven Gerrard’s first season - that there would be no knockout football in the second half of a season.

What do Rangers need to qualify for the Europa League?

As it stands, Ajax occupy third place and will take the Europa League spot. In order for Rangers to overtake them, a win by five goals is required. 5-0, 6-1, 7-2, etc. A very unlikely prospect but you never know in football. If that happened, the head-to-head ‘victory’ would mean a quirky anomaly in that Rangers would top Ajax despite having a lesser goal difference.

A 4-0 victory for Rangers would not be enough. That would mean a tie with Ajax on head-to-head record, but the Dutch giants would prevail on their greater collective goal difference, goals scored and ‘better’ results against the other opponents in the group, Napoli and Liverpool.

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What else is there for Rangers to play for?

Pride and profit are two very important matters on the line in this game.

Rangers stand to earn £802,000 from a draw with Ajax whilst a hard-fought win would land a whopping £2.4m.

Due to the revised financial distribution model, not as much money is guaranteed in the group stages whilst higher-ranked clubs, based on previous Champions League performance, now earn more from the outset. This makes prize money even more important but it is a double-edged sword. With no points so far, Rangers are also yet to get off the mark in terms of revenue earned for draws and wins. 

Is there anything else on the line?

It should not be overlooked that Rangers are also striving to avoid the unwanted mantle of being the ‘worst Champions League team ever’ as well as a possible whitewash from six Group A games.

Currently, Dinamo Zagreb's abject 2011/12 campaign stands as the worst when they finished with zero points, three goals scored and 22 conceded for a goal difference of minus 19. Rangers are perilously close on minus 18.

In Group C, Viktoria Plzen are rock bottom, also on zero points with a goal difference of minus 17. The good news for Rangers is that Barcelona are the opponents heading to the Czech Republic but given that they have already qualified for the Europa League, the bad news is that they appear set to send a second string to the central European state for the final group game.