With the second qualifying round, the level of play in the Champions League preliminaries is gradually rising. Starting this week, clubs that are much better known on the continental stage will take center stage, especially those in the seeded pot. Among them are Rangers, who once again had to settle for second place behind archrivals Celtic in the Scottish league (the green and whites dominated the tournament, finishing 17 points ahead of their cousins).
It was a less than exciting season, therefore, and one that required drastic changes: the owners made significant changes, starting with the coach, choosing Russell Martin, who had brought Southampton back to the Premier League two years ago, and signing eight new players (while five left on free transfers). To advance to the third round, Rangers will have to eliminate the tricky Panathinaikos, who gave Fiorentina a hard time in last year’s Conference League knockout stage. Martin’s team has played only one friendly so far (a 2-2 draw with Club Brugge) but starts as slight favorites due to home advantage. Ibrox is a hostile place for any opponent and will be no different for the Greeks, who should nevertheless be able to keep their qualification hopes alive ahead of the return leg in Athens.
Two games that should be well within reach for Copenhagen and Red Star Belgrade: the Danes have a good chance of sealing the deal in front of their home crowd against Kosovo’s Drita, fresh from their first-round doubleheader with Luxembourg’s Differdange (two narrow wins, 1-0 and 2-3); while the Serbs face Lincoln Red Imps, a Gibraltar club that is now a regular fixture in the preliminary rounds and won both first-round matches against Vikingur Gota of the Faroe Islands. We predict another comfortable victory in this case as well.
Predictions for the other matches
Pafos, who won the Cypriot championship for the first time last season, also made a good run in the Conference League last year. Between the group stage and the knockout rounds, the Cypriots have never lost in front of their fans and should extend their unbeaten run against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The home advantage is also likely to be decisive in the match between Viktoria Plzen and Servette: we are backing the Czechs, who have already made their league debut with a 5-0 win over Pardubice; the Swiss, on the other hand, have only played friendlies so far, but should still be able to limit the damage. The Swedes of Malmö are in good form, with four consecutive wins in the cup and league, and are unlikely to fail to score in their trip to Latvia against RFS in a match that should see at least one goal for each side. Finally, the match between the Finns of KuPS and the Kazakhs of Kairat Almaty is unlikely to be a spectacular affair.
Champions League: possible winners
Pafos or a draw (in Pafos-Maccabi Tel Aviv)
Rangers (in Rangers-Panathinaikos)
Viktoria Plzen (in Viktoria Plzen-Servette)
Matches with at least three goals in total
Lincoln Red Imps-Red Star Belgrade
Copenhagen-Drita
Champions League: the match with at least one goal per side
RFS-Malmo
The match with less than three goals in total
KuPS-Kairat Almaty
Odds comparison
Rangers are priced at 1.80 to win on Goldbet, Lottomatica, and Snai. Over 2.5 goals in Copenhagen-Drita is priced at 1.33 on Goldbet and Lottomatica and 1.37 on Snai.
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