Rangers handed Champions League qualifying boost as Hearts also discover their Europa League fate

RANGERS have been handed a Champions League qualifying boost.

Results elsewhere in Europe have confirmed that Philippe Clement’s men will be seeded in both the third qualifying round and then the play-off stage should they progress to that point.

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It comes after recently-crowned Europa League winners Atalanta secured a top-four finish in Italy‘s Serie A, having already booked their automatic spot in the revamped Uefa set-up with a thumping 3-0 win over then-unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen in Dublin on Wednesday evening.

That double success for the Italian outfit means the country will have FIVE teams in next season’s edition of Europe’s premier competition.

Atalanta’s league performance also sees Portuguese giants Benfica – who knocked Clement’s team out of the Europa League this season – go straight into the new 36-team league phase which replaces the old group stage system next season.

Being seeded naturally means that the Light Blues in theory have an easier path to joining Scottish Premiership champions Celtic in the Champions League proper after Brendan Rodgers’ men secured their direct entry with their third title in a row.

Even if Gers LOSE out in any of their Champions League qualifiers, they will be guaranteed participation in the Europa League.

It means the Ibrox side will have European football up until Christmas at least.

As things stand, Fenerbache, FC Twente, Union Saint-Gilloise and Dynamo Kviv are the unseeded teams for the third qualifying round and potential opponents for Rangers.

Being seeded also ensures they will miss out on arguably tougher opponents in Lille, who join the Scottish giants alongside Slavia Prague and Salzburg as the seeded outfits.

The third qualifying round ties will take place over a fortnight starting on August 6/7, with the return leg coming a week later.

But Atalanta’s success is not so good news for Hearts.

Steven Naismith’s team are at least guaranteed Europa Conference League phase football regardless of their results in Europa League qualifying.

Although their hopes of receiving a bye to go straight into the tournament have been crushed by Gian Piero Gasperini’s men’s end of season finish.

They will now face a two-legged play-off taking place on August 22 and August 29.

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