Rangers, Hibs and Dundee Utd discover European opponents

Rangers have been drawn against Panathinaikos in the second qualifying round of the Champions League.

The winners of the first-round tie between Northern Ireland champions Linfield and Republic of Ireland counterparts Shelbourne will face Qarabag of Azerbaijan.

Should Welsh champions The New Saints win their tie against Shkendija of North Maceonia, they will face either FCSB of Romania or Inter Club d’Escaldes of Andorra.

Meanwhile, Hibernian will face Danish side Midtjylland in the Europa League second qualifying round and Dundee United will take on UNA Strassen of Luxembourg in the Conference League.

Panathinaikos’ visit on 22 July and the return the following week will mark Russell Martin’s first competitive games as Rangers head coach and the former Southampton boss has been handed the toughest of their possible draws despite the Ibrox side having been seeded.

All three potential opponents were, like Rangers, runners-up in their domestic leagues, but while the Greek side are 111th in the European club rankings, 86 places behind Rangers, Swiss side Servette are 139th (one behind Heart of Midlothian) and Norwegians Brann 189th.

The side managed by former Egypt and Benfica head coach Rui Vitoria finished 16 points behind Olympiakos in the Greek Super League last season, having overtaken AEK Athens after the league split.

Panathinaikos have never lost to Scottish opponents over 90 minutes in four meetings with Rangers, two with Motherwell and one with Aberdeen, winning four of their seven games.

However, it was Rangers who progressed when they last met the Ibrox side.

Having beaten Aberdeen 3-0 at home in the 2007-08 Uefa Cup group stage, the Greeks exited on away goals after a 0-0 stalemate in Glasgow was followed by a 1-1 draw in Athens in the round of 32.

They had beaten Rangers 3-1 at Ibrox, and drew 1-1 at home, in the Champions League group stage in 2003, while they eased aside Motherwell 5-0 on aggregate in their latest meeting with a Scottish side in 2012 – in the Champions League third qualifying round.

Panathinaikos have not reached the Champions League proper since 2010-11 and last season started in Europa League qualifying, beating Botev Plovdiv but losing to Ajax before qualifying for the Conference League by defeating Lens.

They lost 4-1 at home to eventual winners Chelsea and beat The New Saints 2-0 in Wales in the new league stage, finishing 13th, before beating Vikingur Reykjavik in the knockout phase and then losing to Fiorentina in the last 16.

Rangers lost their opening Champions League qualifier to Dynamo Kyiv last season under Philippe Clement but reached the Europa League quarter-finals, by which time interim head coach Barry Ferguson was in charge.

Teams winning their second qualifying round ties face two more rounds to make the league stage.

Hibs return to European football after a year’s gap having reached the Conference League play-off round last time round, when they lost to Aston Villa.

Having finished third in the Premiership, David Gray’s side start this season’s campaign in the Europa League and will visit Midtjylland on 24 July, with the Danes heading to Leith for the second leg a week later.

Unseeded in Wednesday’s draw, Hibs avoided Belgium’s Anderlecht and the winners of ties between Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk against Finland’s Ilves Tampere and Moldova’s Sheriff Tiraspol against Prishtina of Kosovo.

Thomas Thomasberg’s Midtjylland were second in the Danish Superliga last season and finished 20th in the Europa League league phase before losing to Real Sociedad in the knock-out stage play-offs.

The Danes have twice previously played Scottish sides, losing to Rangers in Europa League qualifying in 2019 but knocking Celtic out of the Champions League qualifiers two years later.

Dundee United will be at home for the first leg of their tie against UNA Strassen as they return to European football after a two-year absence following their fourth-place finish in the Premiership.

Arno Bonvini’s side, who finished second in the Luxembourg, will be playing only their second-ever European tie having lost 5-0 on aggregate to Finnish side Kuopion Palloseura in last season’s Conference League first qualifying round.

Meanwhile, there is a potential north against south of Ireland match-up, with Cliftonville facing Shamrock Rovers should the Belfast side defeat St Joseph’s of Gibraltar in the first qualifying round.

Larne or Auda of Latvia will take on Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova or Prishtina of Kosovo, while Northern Irish rivals Dungannon Swifts visit Vaduz in Liechtentein in their first leg.

Should Haverfordwest County beat Floriana of Malta, they will take on Ballkani of Kosovo, while Welsh rivals Penybont will meet either Valur of Iceland or Flora Tallinn of Estonia if they defeat Kauno Zalgiris of Lithuania.

Irish side St Patrick’s Athletic will face Nomme Kalju of Estonia or Partizani of Albania should they defeat Lithuania’s Hegelmann.

Whoever loses the Champions League tie between Shelbourne and Linfield will face Zalgiris of Lithuania or Hamrun Spartans of Malta.

Should The New Saints lose to Shkdndija, they will host Drita of Kosovo or Differdange 03 of Luxembourg in their first leg.