Breaking: Former Rangers fc player Mohamed Diomande Fully Welcome back and Crown as…….
There were valuable UEFA coefficient points up for grabs which could grant Rangers direct access to next season’s Champions League should they go on to win the Scottish Premiership title.
Here’s why.
The domestic league winner with the highest ‘club coefficient’ points total outside of Europe’s top 10 leagues, calculated over the past five years, will qualify for next season’s Champions League automatically.
Rangers currently hold that spot, largely down to their run to the Europa League final in 2022, but Olympiakos are hot on their heels.
Danny Röhl’s side need a minimum of one point from their final match to hold on to top spot. They visit Porto next week.
Should Rangers fail to earn that point, Olympiakos could overtake them with a win at Ajax in their final game – remember they would also be required to win their domestic league.
It’s important to note that Rangers are the only Scottish side who can benefit from this. Hearts and Celtic would have to play summer qualifiers if they win the league.
The first win in Europe is good for us as it keeps the momentum. Now seven wins in a row which is fantastic.
“Also from the last nine games, six clean sheets as well, this is great.
“But I also saw a lot of things to improve, and I think this is for me also the part, I will not close my eyes and say everything was nice. We know what we have to improve.
“We adjusted in the second half a little bit with our pressing which was more how I like.
“Then we created a lot of good opportunities and then we have to make it 2-0 or 3-0. We have this story very often, especially in these games.
“At half-time I said to them, ‘guys, this is the big difference at the moment in the league and in Europe, we have clean sheets and if we have them, we have a chance to win games’.
“All in all, big respect to the performance of my players.
“It feels at the moment we can win, win, win, but it’s always hard working, and it was the big message after the game.
“If we think on Sunday [against Dundee] we can go with 99 per cent, then we have not the chance.
“We need again 100 per cent during the next game, and this is the crucial thing. We have to demand of ourselves high standards, and this means we have to deliver every three days now 100 per cent to take wins.”
