ON MONDAY morning Rangers will discover who they’ll face in the third qualifying round of the Champions League when the draw is made in Nyon, Switzerland. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men must navigate two knockout rounds to progress to the group stage for the first time in 11 years. The Light Blues will be hoping to avoid another early exit from the continent's premier competition after succumbing to Malmo at the first hurdle last year.

Given Rangers’ heroic efforts last term in reaching the Europa League final in Seville there is, understandably, optimism amongst the support but fans will be well aware that doesn’t always translate to European progression the following season.

In 2008, Rangers exited the Champions League and Europe altogether when they were eliminated by Lithuanian outfit FBK Kaunas despite reaching the UEFA Cup final the previous campaign.

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Former striker Andrius Velicka featured in both legs and told the Rangers Review why he felt the team were dumped out: “I think Rangers were not ready 100%,” he recalled. “If you remember the season before they played in the UEFA Cup final, they played many games in the league and the two cups so they maybe had one week off after the previous season. I remember Walter threw the bottles in the dressing room afterwards."

The team had played a mammoth 68 games in season 2007/08 and it was a similar outcome 15 years prior when Walter Smith’s men were knocked out by Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia despite coming within a whisker of reaching the first ever Champions League final the season before. The team had navigated 64 games in 1992/93 as they cleaned up domestically.

The warning signs are there. However, under van Bronckhorst you sense history is unlikely to repeat itself. The Dutchman was quizzed on the importance of qualification during the club’s recent pre-season training camp in Portugal. He said: “We have two rounds to play to get to the group stages, which is of course very huge.

“I played in the Champions League, I coached in the Champions League with Feyenoord and I think for a player and also for a coach it is a fantastic tournament to be involved in. That is the ambition of myself and the team and the club to be there in the group stage. We have to be ready when the first games come.”

You get a sense this squad will be ready.

The team are being led by a man who is well versed in bouncing back from adversity. He captained his country in a World Cup final and it's still, understandably, a sore point for him. When asked if he had watched last season’s Europa League final, he responded: “No. I haven’t watched the World Cup final back.

“I remember the game in my head, so I don’t need to watch the pictures of that game. I know exactly what we did well and what difficulties we had. It is still in my mind.”

With a host of top clubs lying in wait, qualification will be far from easy but with van Bronckhorst at the helm, there is a quiet expectation he can lead Rangers to European football’s top table.

This piece is an extract from today’s Rangers Insider newsletter, which is emailed out at 5pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Rangers Review team.

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