There is an intriguing subplot to the Ibrox side’s bid to land the Premiership league flag and it is hotting up
Rangers’ interest in the Greek Super League has reignited after a big weekend in the Scottish Premiership.
The Light Blues moved back into second spot in the table after Saturday’s 4-1 win over Aberdeen at Ibrox.
Danny Rohl’s men are now two points above rivals Celtic, who lost 2-0 at Dundee United 24 hours later, and three behind league leaders Hearts.
Rangers could even hit top spot in their next league game after the international break as they take on Dundee United at Ibrox on April 4 while the Jambos and Celtic aren’t in action until the following day with trips to Livingston and Dundee respectively.
Winning their first Scottish league title in five years is a big enough incentive for Rangers. However, if they can somehow pull it off after a disastrous start to the season and lift the unlikeliest of league flags then the reward could even greater.
That, though, is dependant on what happens in Greece. That is because Olympiacos jumped above Rangers this season in the club coefficient table where the club with the best individual coefficient of all the domestic champions involved in qualifying will enter directly in the Champions League instead of navigating their original round.
That is assuming this year’s Champions League winners will automatically qualify for next season’s league phase via their domestic position, as is almost certain to be the case. So Rangers don’t want Olympiacos to become Greek champions.
And the Piraeus giants suffered a shock at the weekend with the Greek Super League in the middle of a similar fascinating three-way battle for the title as the Scottish Premiership.
Jose Luis Mendilibar’s men were held to a drab goalless draw at home to relegation-threatened strugglers AEL.
They passed up a string of chances in the stalemate and that saw them lose ground on leaders AEK Athens who eased to a 3-0 win over Kifisa to put them two points clear at the top of the table. It could have been even worse for Olympiacos but the third team in the mix, ex Celtic defender Greg Taylor’s PAOK, went down to a shock 2-1 defeat to Volos and remain in third, a point behind Olympiacos.
Lorenzo Scipioni of Olympiacos FC interacts with dejected Santiago Hezze (Image: Getty Images)
That was the final round of fixtures in the regular season and they now enter a play-off system to with the top four playing off to decide who becomes champions and which teams qualify for UEFA club competitions.
If Rangers can remain firmly in the hunt for the Scottish Premiership title then they will have a keen eye on events in Greece as only the Ibrox side can take advantage of this loophole as title winners.
If Hearts or Celtic win the league then they will enter at the play-off stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League, meaning they will have to overcome a two-legged tie to secure a £30million ticket to the league phase. That’s because Scotland have slid down UEFA’s coefficient rankings into 17th – losing a guaranteed spot in the competition.