Rangers have been drawn against Sporting Braga of Portugal in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. The Scottish champions will face either German club RB Leipzig or Atalanta of Italy if they reach the semi-finals. The two-legged quarter-finals will take place on 7 and 14 April with the semi-finals on 28 April and 5 May.
Braga are fourth in the Portuguese table, sitting behind the country’s three biggest clubs Porto, Sporting Lisbon and Benfica. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side will travel to Portugal for the first leg before the return at Ibrox, which was the scene of a thrilling match the last time the sides met there. Rangers fell 2-0 down in the home leg of their Europa League last-32 match two years ago but Steven Gerrard’s men fought back to win 3-2 in Glasgow then secured their progress with a 1-0 victory in Portugal.
Braga are managed by former Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea manager Carlos Carvalhal and reached the last eight with a 3-1 aggregate victory against Monaco. They are a regular presence in the Europa League and got to the final in 2011, when they were defeated by Porto in Dublin. In the rest of the draw, West Ham United were paired with French club Lyon and Frankfurt of Germany drew in-form Barcelona.
Van Bronckhorst’s side reached the last eight after a 4-2 aggregate win against Red Star Belgrade of Serbia, winning 3-0 at Ibrox then losing the away leg 2-1. The final, which is the earliest the two British sides could meet, will be held in Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium on Wednesday, 18 May.
Europa League quarter-final draw
RB Leipzig v Atalanta
Eintracht Frankfurt v Barcelona
West Ham v Lyon
Braga v Rangers
Europa League semi-final draw
RB Leipzig or Atalanta v Braga or Rangers
West Ham or Lyon v Eintracht Frankfurt or Barcelona
