This week on Coefficient Watch, Rangers and Celtic are once again the last Scottish Clubs standing as they face the playoff round of Europa League Qualifiers.
Rangers and Celtic are the two teams left from Scotland for the second season in a row as both teams try to get into the Europa League Group Stage for the second straight season. Rangers is coming off the victory over FC Midtjylland while Celtic lost in Champions League Qualifying to CFR Cluj.
Celtic vs. AIK
After their disappointing outing to crash out of the Champions League by giving up 4 goals at home to Cluj, Celtic try to bounce back and still get into Europa League group stages.
In their way is Swedish Champions AIK.
I won’t pretend to know much about AIK, but Celtic are mostly being viewed as the better side although it should at least be a challenge.
One of the main questions will be whether or not Celtic are able to really get up for the challenge. Last season, while they still qualified for the group stages, Celtic struggled to find consistency in their game after they were taken out of the Champions League. Will they struggle again to find meaning in the season with their ultimate goal failed again?
For the coefficient, Celtic must advance. Getting both Celtic and Rangers through will be big, but the fact is that Celtic is likely to have a better chance of finding victories in the group stage to push the coefficient further.
Rangers vs. Legia Warsaw
This is a Rangers blog so you know what is going on here.
Steven Gerrard has yet to see Rangers trail for a single second in European qualifying under his watch and they are looking to make the group stages from the first round for the second straight season, which would be an unprecedented accomplishment.
The more that I’ve heard about Legia the more I think Rangers really ought to be able to handle them, that said, there is just so much that says Rangers are due for a stumble. Their staunchness in Europe has been nothing short of remarkable under Gerrard, but one has to think they will get a bad break at some point. Hopefully, it isn’t here.
If both Rangers and Celtic manage to go through, Scotland will be in great position to raise the coefficient for the second straight season and if they do well they could even have a shot to push up into position for two Champions League spots.