Rangers will be in Champions League elite eight IF they win the Europa League as extra bonus looms

Rangers will be parachuted into pot one of next season's Champions League IF they win the Europa League.

Gio van Bronckhorst 's men know they will secure a lucrative spot in world football's richest club competition by lifting the trophy in Seville.

But they will be also be guaranteed an extra level of importance by mixing it with the world's biggest teams in the top pot.

The eight teams that make up the elite eight will be comprised of the winners of the Champions League, the Europa League and the champions of the six highest seeded countries who didn't lift either of the top two European trophies.

Rangers supporters are rightly allowed to dream but van Bronckhorst and his European heroes are focusing on the here and now.

The Ibrox side face Bundesliga big spenders RB Leipzig in the Europa League semi finals and know either Eintracht Frankfurt and West Ham lie in wait if they reach Seville.

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But a return to the Champions League for the first time in 11 years would be capped off in the perfect way by standing alongside football's biggest names.

Last season's Europa League winners Villarreal benefited from their top seeding and are now in the last four of this season's tournament.

Rangers still