Rangers have been drawn against Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League third qualifying round.
The Scottish Premiership runners-up and Scottish Cup winners will be in Belgium for the first leg on August 2 or 3, with the return at Ibrox on August 9, 2022. The draw for the play-off round will be on 1 August, with those ties taking place over 16-17 and 23-24 August. Beaten on penalties in last season’s Europa League final, the Ibrox side was seeded for the draw.
Rangers lost at this round to Malmo last year and last made the group stage of the Champions League in 2010-11. Union SG topped their domestic standings after the first round of 34 matches last season but finished second behind Club Bruges following the six-match playoff series. It was the club’s first season back in the top flight since 1973, while the last of their 11 league titles came in 1935.
The Brussels side’s youthful squad is peppered with internationals from Luxembourg, Madagascar, and Malta as well as several players who have represented their country at youth levels. Englishmen Christian Burgess, Marcel Lewis, and Ross Sykes are also in Karel Geraerts’ player pool. And Brighton and Hove Albion chairman/owner Tony Bloom is the majority owner of Union SG, which plays at the 9,400 capacity Stade Joseph Marien.
