Pundit fears Rangers could fall way behind Celtic amid ‘massive’ claim
Rangers will progress to the next round of Champions League qualifying by beating Union Saint-Gilloise in the second leg of their clash.
That’s according to former Leeds United stopper Paddy Kenny, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the Gers’ chances of progressing.
Rangers lost 2-0 to USG on Tuesday (2 August), meaning they must overturn a two-goal deficit if they are to progress to the next Champions League qualifying round.
Missing out on the Champions League group stage also means missing out on roughly £40million.
Kenny insists Rangers can’t afford to drop into the Europa League with Celtic already through to the group stage.
“It’s the third bite of the cherry, they didn’t win the Europa League and they didn’t win the league,” Kenny told Football Insider correspondent Ben Wild.
“Now they have lost the first leg 2-0. They have a massive 90 minutes ahead of them at Ibrox. I still fancy Rangers to get through, and they need to.
“They can’t keep falling behind to Celtic financially. Celtic will just be able to go out and cherry-pick the players they want to sign.
“It’s a disappointing result but it’s only halftime. I still fancy them, it’s Rangers at Ibrox. But they shouldn’t be in this position in the first place.”
Summer striker signing Antonio Colak broke his Rangers duck as his new side beat Kilmarnock 2-0 on Saturday (6 August).
Rangers welcome USG to Ibrox on Tuesday (9 August).
In other news, one pundit has shared a ‘massive’ Alfredo Morelos claim after Gers development.