As Scottish football clubs prepare to take the first steps in this year’s UEFA competitions, local teams, players and fans all know how much representation means. Dundee United, Hibernian, Aberdeen, and Rangers all prepare for challenging away games as they kick off their qualifying campaigns. The competition is fierce and the stakes are high!
Dundee United, under the stewardship of manager Jim Goodwin, achieved a quite remarkable top-six finish. This victory represents their triumphant return to the Scottish Premiership after a period out of the top division. The club will now play UNA Strassen from Luxembourg in the second qualifying round of the Champions League. An upset here would send Dundee United streaming into the final. They would then have to take on either FK Decic from Montenegro or Rapid Vienna from Austria. A loss to UNA Strassen would send them crashing out of European play before they’ve barely started.
Hibernian, who were third in the Scottish Premiership last season, are gearing up for their European campaign. For their second qualifying round fixture, the team will face Danish side Midtjylland. Should Hibs complete their unlikely comeback victory, then they would progress to meet Norway’s Fredrikstad in the next round. If they do lose, they shall be relegated down to the Conference League third qualifier. If so, they will match up with either the Ukrainian side Oleksandriya or the Serbian club Partizan Belgrade.
Aberdeen currently sit in the Europa League play-offs after winning the Scottish Cup. Next two expected performances are on August 21 and 28, with expectations to continue advancing deep into the tournament. Their impressive run in the domestic cup has guaranteed their historic appearance at this stage of European football.
Rangers play Panathinaikos on Friday in Russell Martin’s first competitive match as manager at Ibrox. The match up on Tuesday night will be a home and away series, with the return leg taking place in Athens next week. If Rangers come through their Greek opponents, they will join in the League Phase. That’ll make it their second year in a row participating in this tournament! If they do trip up, they will descend into the group stages of the Europa League. There, they’ll face off against the victors of the tie featuring Turkish club Besiktas and Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk.
These fixtures provide Scottish clubs a thrilling chance to showcase their skill on the continental stage. They further highlight the tensile stakes of making it past the qualifying rounds. As in any first-ever iteration of something, each team’s performance will greatly affect their place and monetary future going forward.
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