Rangers draw Olympiacos or Ludogorets in Champions League play-off with group stage place awaiting winner
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RANGERS face a potential date with destiny against Olympiacos or Ludogorets for a place in the Champions League group stages.
The Light Blues have been drawn to face the Greek or Bulgarian giants in the competition’s play-off round.
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The Champions League trophyCredit: Getty
The Ibrox club are just two steps away from reaching the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in 11 years.
They take on Malmo in the third qualifying round, with the first leg taking place in Sweden on Tuesday night.
The second leg will take place next week after the club’s weekend match away to Dundee United.
And today, the club have discovered their fate should they make it past Malmo.
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The draw for the Champions League play-off round took place in Nyon, Switzerland at 11am.
Rangers were unseeded for the draw, leaving a group of potential opponents including FC Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb/Legia Warsaw, Slavia Prague/Ferencavaros or Olympiacos/Ludogorets.
Like the Gers though, all of the teams in the seeded half of draw apart from Salzburg must come through the third qualifying round first.
As Rangers were drawn out of the bowl first, the first leg will be held at Ibrox, with the second away from home.
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The ties will be played on August 17/18 and August 24/25 respectively.
This scenario will only happen if Rangers beat Malmo over the next week.
However, if Rangers lose in the third qualifying round they would drop into the Europa League play-off round rather than going on to face Olympiacos or Ludogorets.
They will find out their potential opponents in Monday’s Europa League play-off round draw at 12pm.
The 20 teams involved are divided into four pots, and the Light Blues will be in pot two and can therefore be paired with a club from either pot three or or pot two.
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