On Thursday evening, Midtjylland host Rangers in the Europa League third qualifying round first leg, with both sides confident of progressing to the next stage of the competition.
Both teams have extensive experience in the European game in recent seasons. The home side has featured in this competition in the last five seasons, while this is Rangers third straight campaign in Europe’s secondary competition.
The Danish team have yet to play a game in the competition this season. However, they have a mixed recent record in the Europa League, winning two, drawing two and losing two of their last six games. Last season they exited the competition at the play-off round, suffering a 4-2 defeat at the hands of fellow Scandinavian’s Malmo.
One positive for Midtjylland heading into the clash is their relatively strong home record in the Europa League, as they have won four of their last six matches on home soil. A 2-0 defeat against Malmo last season ended a five-game unbeaten run at home in the competition.
Europæisk fodbold er tilbage på MCH Arena! Vi har brug for fuld opbakning, for at sende Rangers hjem tomhændede 🤜🏴Der er kun få billetter tilbage 👉🎟 https://t.co/6XFGXlUVyv#FCMRangers #eldk pic.twitter.com/bQnfkzjTLV— FC Midtjylland (@fcmidtjylland) August 7, 2019
Europæisk fodbold er tilbage på MCH Arena! Vi har brug for fuld opbakning, for at sende Rangers hjem tomhændede 🤜🏴Der er kun få billetter tilbage 👉🎟 https://t.co/6XFGXlUVyv#FCMRangers #eldk pic.twitter.com/bQnfkzjTLV
Rangers will be eying a place in the Europa League play-offs and group stages. Steven Gerrard’s team has already dispatched St Joseph’s of Gibraltar and Progres Niederkorn from Luxembourg. Needless to say, Midtjylland should provide more of a challenge for the SPL team.
The Gers recent European record is not great. They are unbeaten in four games but have won just three of their last eight matches in this competition.
Rangers did make the group stages of the competition last season but recorded just one win from their six outings.
The visitors have been poor travellers in the Europa League, winning just one of their last seven games in the competition.
Both of these teams will feel they have a good chance of progression into the play-off round. However, Forebet predicts that this first leg tie will produce an entertaining draw, which will leave it all to play for in the second leg in Glasgow.