Rangers drawn against Postecoglou’s Spurs and Manchester United
Rangerswillfaceformercelticmanagerangepostecoglou in the Europa League after the draw for the new league phase handed them a tough set of fixtures including two ‘battle of Britain’ clashes.
The revamped competition will see each club play eight matches against eight different sides in a single 36-team league – four home and four away. Rangers were the first side out of the hat in a format that saw each Pot One side drawn out manually before being allocated their opponents, two from each of the four seeding pots, by an AI computer system.
“Exciting British derbies, how can we start better?" was the verdict of Uefa deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti as Rangers’ fixtures were unveiled amid gasps from the audience at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
Philippe Clement's side were handed an English Premier League double that will see them host Tottenham Hotspur, now managed by Postecoglou, as well as travelling to Old Trafford to face Manchester United. Rangers have also been drawn at home against French giants Lyon, Swiss side Union Saintgilloise and Romanian outfit FCSB, formerly known as Steaua Bucharest, while they face away trips to Greek side Olympiacos, Swedish champions Malmo and Nice in France.
While the draw has provided Rangers with a number of glamour ties and exciting trips for supporters, it is about as tough as could have been anticipated. They will need to claim some unexpected results in order to progress to the knockout phase. Rangers will be underdogs in all but two or three of their matches, leaving them with a difficult assignment to finish inside the top 24, which will be required to earn a place in the Europa League knockout round play-offs. The top eight qualify directly for the last 16.
The match against Spurs carries extra intrigue with Postecoglou set to return to Glasgow for the first time since departing Celtic last summer. The Greek-australian was a huge success across his two years at Celtic, winning five out of the six trophies he competed for, including back-to-back league titles and a domestic treble. He also enjoyed the upper hand in Old Firm matches against Rangers with six wins, two draws and three defeats in his 11 matches against the Ibrox side.
“Exciting," said Postecoglou about the draw. “it's good to be a part of. Some good games. I am sure I will get a warm reception at Ibrox and they'll look forward to seeing me!”
It will be the first time Rangers have faced the North Londoners since 1962 when Spurs claimed an 8-4 aggregate victory in the European Cup Winners Cup. Rangers played Manchester United as recently as last month, losing 2-0 at Murrayfield in a preseason friendly, but the sides last met competitively in the Champions League group stages in season 2010-11 with a goalless draw at Old Trafford followed by a 1-0 defeat at Ibrox courtesy of a Wayne Rooney penalty.