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IT’S a new era at Rangers – and it will all begin for Russell Martin with the white knuckle ride which is the Champions League qualifiers.

And for the former MK Dons, Swansea and Southampton boss, who was appointed earlier this month, that means a tough opener against Panathinaikos.

The first leg will be at Ibrox with Gers facing a trip to Greece for the second leg.

Greek giants Panathinaikos were perhaps the toughest of the three sides Rangers could have faced, the others being Servette of Switzerland and Brann Bergen of Norway.

They haven’t met since Walter Smith‘s side squeezed past the Greeks at the last 16 phase as they went on to book their spot in the Uefa Cup final in Manchester.

And a tough visit to Athens so early in Martin’s tenure will be a major challenge right off the bat.

Although Martin’s side will face a hot atmosphere in Greece it is worth noting that the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium has a capacity of just 16,000.

Rangers’ sizeable Uefa five-year coefficient gives them seeding at both this stage and the third round if they can make it that far – although they WON’T be protected at the playoff round.

Scotland‘s dropping co-efficient means BOTH halves of the Old Firm have to pre-qualify to make it into the reshaped Champions League this season.

Celtic enter at the play-off round stage in the ‘Champions path’ – as they look to improve on their agonising knockout round playoff defeat to Bayern Munich.

Even if they don’t make it all the way to the Champions League, victory in their opening tie will be crucial for Rangers.

As it stands they have NO guarantee of group stage football in Europe this season.

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