Rangers count consequences of European failure – financially & with coefficient

It’s a bleak picture for Scotland and its Uefa coefficient.

After being ranked as high as ninth between 2021 and 2023, at the end of last season Scotland had plummeted to 18th.

This is important because it determines how many places a league gets in Europe each season – and in which competitions.

For instance, last season’s placings in the Scottish Premiership earned five places in Europe. For this season going into next, it’s down to four.

Scotland is now down to one place in the Champions League, starting in the early rounds.

To get places back, Scotland needs to get back into the top 15. But this week’s disastrous results mean there’s no chance of that.

Celtic being knocked out of the Champions League and going into the Europa League did not really matter, as it’s easier to get results in the secondary competition.

But three of the other teams being knocked out of Europe means there’s only a small chance of climbing up the coefficient table.

Historically, Scotland has relied upon the Old Firm for its European results. So Rangers being eliminated is a huge blow.

Now, Hearts will have to step up and make it deep into the Conference League, results in which are worth far fewer coefficient points.

Scotland has already dropped to 19th in the live standings but would need to drop to 34th for the current allocation to be impacted. That cannot happen.

But the gap to 15th is considerable and Scotland would need their best ever season to bridge it.

The good news is, at the end of this season, the 2022-23 season drops off the five-year calculation. And that was one of Scotland’s worst seasons.

But if teams continue to fail in the qualifying rounds, Scotland will struggle to reclaim places in Europe.