The numbers were all good for Rangers in Europe last season. The Ibrox club made more than £11 million from their adventures but just 48 days after that Uefa Cup final in Manchester, Walter Smith will today discover what fortunes lie in store for his team this season.

The manager’s ambitions for the new European campaign will be determined by the draw for the Champions League second qualifiying round, which takes place at Uefa’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, this morning. Rangers go into the draw with the highest coefficient of any of the 28 teams taking part at this stage, reflecting the wins over Vfb Stuttgart and Lyons last season in the Champions League, and then their runners-up finish to Zenit St Petersburg in the Uefa Cup after being parachuted into that competition.

The seeding of Smith’s team will ensure they do not come up against a clutch of other, strong seeded teams such as Fenerbahçe – who reached the last eight of the Champions League before being knocked out by Chelsea – Basle, Dynamo Kiev, Anderlecht and Panathinaikos. However there is always the risk of landing an unknown opponent laced with surprise, as Celtic discovered in 2005 when they were eliminated by Artmedia Bratislava, of Slovakia.

Going out of the Champions League at this stage does not even come with the safety net of being rerouted to the Uefa Cup. Qualification for the group stages of Champions League could earn Rangers up to £10 million, but failing at the first hurdle has a disastrous effect on finances – as Celtic’s accounts for 2005-06 revealed – and Rangers could ill afford to repeat that, after revealing last week that they made £7 million from Champions League participation and another £4 million from reaching the Uefa Cup final.

The early Champions League involvement is the price that Rangers pay for losing out on the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title to Celtic in May. Gordon Strachan’s side go straight into the group stage while Smith’s players will be facing a real test before the domestic season starts, with the first leg on July 29 and the return a week later.

“We have to be ready,” Smith said. “There is obviously a lot at stake for all the clubs going into the qualification process, both financially and in terms of prestige. It’s always very nervy because of that. We have to overcome that and be prepared for whoever we get. We showed we could handle it last season when we got into the groups, and we have to do that again. Hopefully the experience of last season, from the qualifiers right through to the Uefa Cup final, can stand us in good stead for what lies ahead.”

Last season, Rangers enjoyed a safe passage when they beat FK Zeta, of Montenegro, and then Red Star Belgrade, of Serbia. However, several potential trips amongst this season’s unseeded group could cause concern. A visit to Israel, where Beitar Jerusalem – whom Rangers defeated during Dick Advocaat’s tenure – would not be welcome, nor would a tie with IFK Gothenburg, of Sweden, who knocked out the Ibrox club when Smith was in his first spell there. Rangers would prefer opponents from closer to home, maybe Llanelli, the Welsh champions, or Linfield or Drogheda United from Northern Ireland and Ireland respectively. In the past, Rangers have had to negotiate their way past teams like FC Copenhagen and Famagusta to get to the group stage but they have also perished against Fenerbahçe and CSKA Moscow in recent years.

Alan Gow’s future at Ibrox remains clouded in uncertainty. The forward’s move to Norwich City, the English Coca-Cola Championship side, has now fallen through but Motherwell have confirmed they want to sign the former Falkirk man, who is valued by Rangers at £250,000.