Chris Jack: Rangers and Celtic will have very different Europa League ambitions this term

Rangers and Celtic will return to Europa League action this week and do so with very different ambitions between now and Christmas. Their successes will be relative.

Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard will, of course, want to lead his side as far as possible in the competition and will have his sights set on the knockout rounds.

But the matches with Villarreall, Rapid Vienna and Spartak Moscow in Group G are mainly about the experience and the finance for the Light Blues.

Gerrard has already achieved his European ambition just by getting to this stage and the four qualifying round ties are the foundations upon which Rangers must now build domestically in the coming weeks and months.

While Shkupi were taken care of with ease, Rangers had to up their game to overcome Osijek and Maribor. That dramatic night in Ufa, meanwhile, will last long in the memories of the manager, his players and Gers supporters.

Securing European football until the turn of the year was the first objective that Gerrard was set by the Ibrox board and it is one that he achieved in impressive fashion.

Now that Rangers are there, the benefits in terms of kudos and cash are clear and they have undoubtedly passed another significant marker post on the road to recovery.

Supporters will not diminish their demands now that Gerrard’s side are keeping a higher quality of company in the Europa League and there will be an expectation that Rangers more than hold their own over the next six continental clashes.

Even if, as is likely, qualification for the next round proves beyond them, these outings are still important learning curves for both Gerrard and his squad.

As well as the several million pounds Rangers will bank, that exposure to European action is the main benefit that the Light Blues will be able to take from their first group campaign since facing Manchester United, Valencia and Bursaspor eight years ago.

While the Ibrox crowd are excited about the return of proper continental fixtures once again, the feelings at Parkhead will be somewhat different, both on the park and off it.

There is still an appeal to the Europa League for Celtic but going head-to-head with RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and Rosenborg, again, isn’t quite what Brendan Rodgers had in mind.

Having fallen at the third Champions League hurdle as they crashed out in the qualifiers to AEK Athens, there isn’t the same enthusiasm for the Europa League in the East End as there is across the city.

After welcoming the superstars of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain to Parkhead over the last two seasons, it is understandable that the Group B clashes don’t hold the same lustre and lure for supporters or Rodgers’ players.

The disappointment of missing out on a place alongside Europe’s elite can’t linger for Celtic, though, because the coming weeks will prove whether or not the champions are progressing as a side outwith these shores.

Celtic’s Europa League ambitions were over before they had really begun last term as they followed up a 1-0 home win over Zenit St Petersburg with a 3-0 capitulation in Russia and were eliminated at the first knock-out round.

After suffering their share of bloody noses in the Champions League on Rodgers’ watch, the drop down into the second tier tournament should have given Celtic more of a chance to compete. And that is what they must now do this term.

If Celtic want to prove themselves as a force, relatively speaking, in Europe once again, then this is their chance to show what they are made of and prove that they are able to compete with, and beat, teams who share of their dreams of forcing their way back into the Champions League.

The coming weeks will be enlightening and entertaining on both sides of the Old Firm divide as they combine Europa League endeavours with a Premiership title challenge.

Come Christmas, the festive cheer, or perhaps lack of it, will tell its own story at Ibrox and Parkhead.