ATHLETIC BILBAO ended Rangers’ Europa League dream last month.
And tonight the Spaniards have dealt the Light Blues another European blow – after crashing out of the competition themselves to Manchester United tonight.
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Man Utd’s big win impacts Rangers next seasonCredit: Reuters
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Rangers would’ve wanted Bilbao to progress – to help them in the Champions League this summerCredit: EPA
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The Light Blues have now discovered their qualifying fateCredit: EPA
The Spaniards already looked down and out before the second leg at Old Trafford after last week’s shock 3-0 win for Ruben Amorim’s side left them with a mountain to climb.
But even though many Gers fans might have been quietly hoping the Red Devils avenged their quarter-final defeat, it was actually in their best interests for Athletic to progress.
Now that the La Liga side are out Rangers will have another Champions League tie to attend to next season.
If Athletic has won the competition at the San Mames and finished in a Champions League place in their league – which they currently hold – the Gers would have been bumped up a qualification path and entered the third round.
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Tottenham Hotspur and Man Utd are of course both out of Champions League contention in the Premier League so it was in Gers’ best interests for the Basque outfit to go all the way.
But now their place in the second qualifying round has been confirmed.
And that leaves the incoming US consortium behind the Ibrox takeover with a major race against time to prepare for the big kick-off.
We told you how the takeover might not be finalised until the middle of June which would leave them with just a matter of weeks before the Champions League second qualifying round gets underway.
The first leg has been scheduled for July 22/23, with the return fixture taking place the following week on either July 29 or July 30.
The third round doesn’t kick off until August 5/6 which would have given the new owners another couple of weeks to get the dugout and squad in shape.
The Light Blues crashed out of the competition at that stage last summer when they failed to overcome Dynamo Kyiv over two legs.
Philippe Clement led the club to 1-1 draw away from home in the first leg but Gers dropped down to the Europa League following a 2-0 loss at Hampden a week later.
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