Rangers fear facing Liverpool in the Champions League

Rangers coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst accepted it will be a tough challenge to face Liverpool and other big teams in Europe. Although Liverpool have had a sluggish start to the Premier League season, they showed on Saturday why they are one of the favourites for the title, not only at home but in European competition as well.

Although Van Bronckhorst insisted Rangers are ready to take on Europe's best, the Ibrox side will face Jürgen Klopp and Co in a group that will see them return to Holland to face Ajax and a quick reunion with Calvin Bassey, sold in the summer for £20m. The final team in the group is current Serie A leaders Napoli.

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Liverpool are last season's runners-up in the Champions League, a Liverpool side featuring Scottish captain Andrew Robertson and former Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk. Napoli have won their first two Serie A games in style, with Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia already being hailed as the "new Maradona".

Fixtures

The group matches kick off on 6 September. Group A features Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers and Ajax. This time, due to the World Cup in Qatar, the phase will be played from September to November, so before that date we will already know the teams that will be in the final phase of the competition.

Although the outlook for Liverpool looked complicated, with Saturday's 9-0 win over Bournemouth and the gradual return of their injured and suspended players, all indications are that the Merseyside side will take top spot in the group stage, with Ajax, Napoli and Rangers themselves fighting it out for second place.