How Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen and St Johnstone have a defining midweek ahead of them

It’s been a long time since Scottish football had four teams on the cusp of European group football.

Chris Kane scored for St Johnstone in their 1-1 draw away at LASK.

In fact, since the inception of the Europa League in 2004, there has not been an opportunity for such a number of clubs from these shores to make it into this phase of the competition. Granted, our chances have been enhanced by the arrival of the Conference League, which gives Uefa an extra tournament to put teams in and extra parachutes for those that tumble out of the Champions League and Europa Leagues. But let’s not find reasons to diminish this achievement: Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen and St Johnstone – our representatives on the continent – all go into Thursday’s second legs of their respective ties with a fighting chance of progression.

This is a welcome development for our game and needs championed.

Reigning Premiership champions Rangers may not be dining at Europe’s top table, given that they were knocked out by Malmo in the Champions League second qualifying round, but they are guaranteed – at the very worst – a place in the Conference League should things go awry in Armenia. They travel to Yerevan, some 4800 miles away from Glasgow, defending a 1-0 lead from the first leg at Ibrox.

Celtic take a 2-0 lead to the Netherlands when they face AZ Alkmaar.

They shot themselves in the foot with John Lundstram’s red card, not allowing to kill the tie off, but it would be a surprise if Alashkert were to knock them out. As manager Steven Gerrard has said already, Rangers are a proven last-16 Europa League team, and they will have ambitions of reaching at least the same stage again.

Celtic are in a similar situation to Rangers, sitting reasonably pretty in the Europa League after a 2-0 home win over AZ Alkmaar in Glasgow. They too have the safety net of a Conference League berth, and while AZ feel like a more formidable opponent than Alashkert, Ange Postecoglou’s men are still favourites to return from the Netherlands victorious over the two legs.

The real success story, though, would be if Aberdeen or St Johnstone were to make it past Qarabag and LASK respectively.

The Dons have not been involved in group-stage European football since 2007, when they were in a Europa League pool with Lokomotiv Moscow, Atletico Madrid and FC Copenhagen. A rousing 4-0 win over the Danes got them out of the group and a shot at Bayern Munich in the knock-out phases (2-2 at home, 1-5 away). They are on the cusp of that kind of opponent again.

Alfredo Morelos scored for Rangers in the 1-0 win over Alashkert.

Stephen Glass’ men trail Qarabag 1-0 from the first leg in Azerbaijan, but back on home soil and the Azeris facing a long journey to Scotland, the tie is finely balanced. Pittodrie has hosted plenty of great European nights and a full house could go some way to getting Aberdeen over the line.

A sell-out is also expected in Perth. St Johnstone host Austrians LASK, with the tie delicately poised after a 1-1 draw in Klagenfurt. LASK have good recent European pedigree and despite the stalemate, Saints are probably the Scottish team in most peril. However, they have achieved so much in 2021 and did well to limit their opponents away from home. Progress is not beyond them.

At present, only Rangers (BBC) and Celtic (Premier Sports) are being broadcast on TV. One hopes at least another match is televised. Scottish football should cherish such nights in Europe on four fronts considering the dark days of not so long ago.

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