Rangers host Club Brugge in Champions League playoff first leg at Ibrox

Rangers host Club Brugge in the first leg of their Champions League playoff on Tuesday at Ibrox, a fixture that carries outsized significance for a club eager to return to Europe’s elite competition after a two-year absence. Under new manager Russell Martin, Rangers have shown progress in European qualifiers but have yet to translate that into consistent domestic form, leaving the team facing a pivotal test against a Belgian side that advanced to the last-16 in the previous campaign.

Rangers arrive at the tie with mixed domestic results, having drawn their first two Scottish Premiership matches of the season, both by 1-1 margins, and only recently beating Alloa Athletic in the League Cup. Yet their European campaign remains buoyant, having progressed past Viktoria Plzen with a 4-2 aggregate in the last round and previously beating Panathinaikos. Rangers’ record in European qualifiers has been favorable at home, with seven consecutive home wins against Belgian opponents and a tally of 22 goals for and eight against, underscoring a domestic strength that the team will seek to translate onto the continental stage.

Club Brugge arrive in Glasgow having begun the season strongly,...