Danny Rohl’s men face Hearts on Monday and it could have massive financial implications
(Image: Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)
Olympiacos have all-but guaranteed Rangers a direct route to the Champions League next season IF they win the title.
If the Glasgow giants can overtake league leaders Hearts and Celtic to lift the Scottish Premiership crown this term they can capitalise on a UEFA loophole that will secure a spot in next season’s league phase.
This year’s Champions League winners will automatically qualify for next season’s league phase and the newly-crowned Kings of Europe are also guaranteed to earn a place via their domestic position – with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid battling it out for a spot in the semi-final.
That means there will be an extra league phase place, and the club that holds the best individual coefficient of all the domestic champions involved in qualifying will enter directly instead of navigating their original route.
The Light Blues slipped into second in the five-year club coefficient table, and were leapfrogged by Olympiacos – who progressed to the Champions League knockout phase this term.
But defeat to rivals PAOK appears to have all-but ended the Greek giants chances of catching league leaders AEK.
Olympiacos have three games left to play, are five points off the Athens side – who have played a game less.
The two meet on the final day of the season, but Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side’s hopes of glory look to be rapidly fading.
That leaves Rangers looking at the coefficient table to see who could catch them, with Ukrainian league leaders Shakhtar Donetsk the only rival with a realistic shot of leapfrogging the Light Blues.
Shakhtar trail 3-0 in their Conference League semi-final first leg with Crystal Palace and sit on 56.25 coefficient points – three points behind Rangers who sit on 59.25.
A victory earns two points from UEFA and draws earn one, while progressing through each round earns an additional 0.5.
Therefore, it means Arda Turan’s men would need a massive second leg turnaround against the Premier League side to stand a chance of entering Europe’s elite competition through the back door.
Rangers remain firmly in the hunt for Premiership title glory despite defeat to Motherwell last weekend.
They sit in third spot, four points behind Hearts – who they face on Monday – and Celtic, who have played a game more.
Danny Rohl takes his side to both Tynecastle and Celtic Park in the final four fixtures of the season – and a run of victories in the run-in is likely to be enough to bring the Scottish title back to Ibrox.
Rangers are the only side that can take advantage of the UEFA loophole as title winners.
If Hearts or Celtic win the league then they will enter at the play-off stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League, meaning they will have to overcome a two-legged tie to secure a £30million ticket to the league phase.
That’s because Scotland have slid down UEFA’s coefficient rankings into 17th – losing a guaranteed spot in the competition.
