COVID-19, court case appeal and Fellaini's financial bail-out: Standard Liege in focus ahead of Rangers Europa League group stage opener

Standard Liege's players have had much to celebrate after a bright start to their Jupiler Pro League season - which came after a courtroom reprieve (Photo by VIRGINIE LEFOUR/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)

Rangers begin a third consecutive Europa League group stage campaign tomorrow as they take on Standard Liege.

Their opponents are currently fourth in the Jupiler Pro League and have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in recent days. Here is the lowdown on the side Rangers will visit in Wallonia on Thursday night.

Form

Had things turned out differently over the summer, Standard may have found themselves plumbing Belgian football's depths rather than facing up to Gerrard's team. They were forced to go to court to fight off plans to demote them to the fourth tier of their domestic pyramid after being accused of "poor financial management" by the Belgian FA. Former Standard players and Belgium internationals Marouane Fellaini and Axel Witsel came to the rescue as they contributed to a financial bail-out and from that narrow escape, Standard have refused to look back. They sit just a point behind Jupiler Pro League leaders Club Brugge having suffered just one defeat in nine league games and cruised past Bala Town, Vojvodina and Videoton to qualify for the Europa League.