Rangers head into tonight's final Europa League league phase fixture knowing that they can still secure an automatic spot in the last-16 of the competition.
As things stand, Rangers sit 13th in the table, which is good enough to seal a seeded spot in the play-off round. Philippe Clement's men sit on 11 points.
However, with FCSB, Spurs, Anderlecht and Lyon all on 14 points in the top-eight, and goal differences largely no better than Rangers, there is every chance that the Ibrox club could overtake them to finish in one of those slots.
Union Saint-Gilloise are the opponents at Ibrox for the Scottish Premiership giants this evening. They too sit on 11 points and have an outside chance of finishing in the top-eight.
How could that happen for Rangers? Here are all of the details you need to know...
How can Rangers finish in the top-eight of the Europa League?
Well, for a start, they would need to win against Union SG tonight to get the ball rolling.
This would put them onto 14 points after their eight matches, and guarantee them at least a seeded play-off position.
What happens next? They'll need quite a few favours elsewhere in the other games, as it is out of their hands.
For starters, at least one of the aforementioned teams (FCSB, Spurs, Anderlecht and Lyon) would need to lose.
FCSB play Manchester United, Elfsborg take on Tottenham, Hoffenheim play Anderlecht and Ludogorets host Lyon. The latter is the least likely to fall in Rangers' favour, as a three-goal swing would be required.
Then you have the teams currently above Rangers in the Europa League standings.
Olympiacos and Viktoria Plzen are on 12 points, while Bodo/Glimt and Galatasaray have 13.
The permutations that would help Rangers move up the table are:
- Galatasaray draw with or lose to Ajax
- Viktoria Plzen draw with or lose to Athletic Bilbao
- Bodo/Gilmt draw with or lose to Nice
- Olympiacos draw with or lose to Qarabag
Essentially, as long as none of these teams pick up three points, then it helps Rangers' case to move ahead of them in the standings due to their superior goal difference.
What is the worst-case scenario for Rangers?
Rangers are guaranteed a play-off spot - so, the worst-case scenario isn't necessarily bad.
However, should some of the teams below them in the table win, and Rangers lose to Union SG, then they could lose their seeded slot for the play-off.
This, in theory, would provide them with a tougher tie for that round.
