Rangers given Inter Milan incentive in Europa League draw

Ibrox side will face either Italian giants or Spanish side Getafe if they can overcome Leverkusen

George Edmundson celebrates his goal for Rangers during the Europa League last 16 first leg tie against Bayer Leverkusen, at Ibrox. The German side won 3-1. Picture: SNS

Rangers will face either Inter Milan or Spanish side Getafe in the Europa League quarter-final if they can defeat Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16.

The Ibrox side trail 3-1 from the first leg and face a tough task in the return match in the BayArena next month.

But the prize for the victors is an attractive one.

The quarter-final tie will be one-legged and will take place in neutral Germany.

Duisburg, Dusseldorf, Gelsenkirchen and Cologne will be the host venues for the Europa League from the last-eight onwards, with the latter city hosting the final.

Leverkusen impressed in March's first leg at Ibrox, which was the last competitive match involving a Scottish side to take place before the coronavirus lockdown.

The second leg will be played behind closed doors on 5 or 6 August.

All remaining matches in this year's competition will take place in Germany.

Getafe's last-16 tie with Inter will take place as a one-off match.

Inter, Getafe, Rangers or Leverkusen will meet Wolfsburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Eintracht Frankfurt or FC Basel in the one-legged semi-finals on 16 or 17 August, with the final on 21 August.

Rangers are scheduled to begin their Scottish Premiership campaign against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on 1 August after the 2019-20 campaign was curtailed because of Covid-19.

Leverkusen resumed their interrupted Bundesliga campaign in May and finished fifth. The new German season begins on 21 August.

Manchester United and Wolves could potentially meet in an all-English Europa League semi-final.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are all but through having won 5-0 at LASK in the first leg of their last-16 tie and United would face Copenhagen or Istanbul Basaksehir in the single-leg quarter-finals.

Wolves would play Roma or Sevilla in the quarter-finals if they overcome Olympiakos, who they drew 1-1 with in the first leg in Greece.

Should both English Premier League sides progress to the semi-finals, the pair would do battle in a mouth-watering clash to decide who makes the August 21 final.

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