Rangers in the Europa League: When is the draw, potential opponents, fixture dates and prize money

Russell Martin's side were trounced 6-0 in a record-equalling defeat in Belgium on Wednesday to go down 9-1 on aggregate - their heaviest loss over two legs in European competition in 65 years.

The Ibrox side join Celtic in Uefa's second tier competition after their Glasgow rivals suffered an ignominous Champions League exit of their own 24 hours earlier when losing to Kairat Almaty - the lowest ranked side left in the competition - in a penalty shoot-out in Kazakhstan following a goalless draw.

Rangers are no strangers to the Europa League - a competition they have performed admirably in over recent years, reaching the final in 2022 where they lost to Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties, and making it to the quarter-finals last season where they were knocked out by Atletico Bilbao. They also reached the round of 16 twice under Steven Gerrard.

In a new format introduced last season, the Europa League now features 36 clubs in a single league, with each club drawn against two opponents from each of the four seeding pots, playing a total of eight matches home and away. Each team will play against a maximum of two opponents from any other country and cannot play a team from the same association, ruling out the prospect of Celtic v Rangers derby in the league phase, although an Old Firm clash in the knock-out stages is possible if both progress.

The top eight in the Europa League table advance directly to the round of 16 while sides finishing from ninth to 24th will contest the knockout round play-offs, with the victors going through to the last 16. Teams finishing 25th and below will be eliminated from European competition altogether. Rangers will be drawn from pot one and could face Battle of Britain clashes against either Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest.

When is the Europa League group phase draw?

Rangers will find out their opponents for the Europa League main phase when the draw is made in Monaco on Friday, August 29, 2025 with proceedings set to begin at 12pm BST.

Rangers' possible Europa League opponents

Rangers are one of 25 teams already confirmed for the Europa League main phase, namely: Pot 1 - Roma, Porto, Feyenoord, Lille, Dinamo Zagreb, Real Betis, Salzburg, Aston Villa; Pot 2 - Fenerbahce, Crvena Zvezda, Lyon, Viktoria Plzen, Ferencvaros, Celtic; Pot 3 - Basel, Freiburg, Nottingham Forest, Sturm Graz, Nice, Bologna; Pot 4 - Celtic Vigo, Stuttgart, Go Ahead Eagles, Brann.

The rest of the teams will be known following the conclusion of the Europa League play-off round on Thursday. Those projected to make it through based on their seeding are: Pot 2 - Braga, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Young Boys; Pot 3 - Midtjylland, Ludogorets, FCSB; Pot 4 - Panathinaikos, Malmo, Utrecht, Rijeka, Genk.

Europa League fixture dates

Europa League fixtures will primarly take place on Thursday evenings, with the exception of a limited number of matchday one fixtures scheduled on Wednesday, September 24.

Matchday 1: September 24/25, 2025

Matchday 2: October 2, 2025

Matchday 3: October 23, 2025

Matchday 4: November 6, 2025

Matchday 5: November 27, 2025

Matchday 6: December 11, 2025

Matchday 7: January 22, 2026

Matchday 8: January 29, 2026

Knockout play-off round: February 19 and 26, 2026

Round of 16: March 12 and 19, 2026

Quarter-finals: April 9 and 16, 2026

Semi-finals: April 30 and May 7, 2026

Final: May 20, 2026 at Beşiktaş Stadium, Istanbul

Europa League prize money

While Rangers were expected to bank up to €25million in prize money for competing in the Champions League, the financial rewards are far less in the Europa League.

All 36 qualifying clubs will be guaranteed a fixed starting fee of €4.31 million with performance-related bonuses paid for each match in the League Phase amounting to €450k per win and €150k per draw.

The rest of the prize money is broken down as follows:

Finish in the top eight of the League Phase: €600k each

Finished between ninth and 16th: €300k each

Qualify for play-off round: €300k each

Round of 16: €1.75m per club

Quarter-finals: €2.5m per club

Semi-finals: €4.5m per club

Final: €7m per club - winners can expect to receive an additional €6m.