Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Scotland’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Israel rearranged for October
SCOTLAND will face Israel on October 8 i n their delayed Euro 2020 play-off.
Confirmation came after a Uefa executive committee meeting which decided dates for a number of competitions.
Rangers will play the second leg of their Europa League clash against Bayer Leverkusen on August 5/6, with t he remainder of the tournament also taking place in Germany later in the month.
Uefa took the decision to fit the European Championship play-offs in at the start of the October and November i nternational windows.
That will mean Scotland host Israel in consecutive months, kicking off their Nations League campaign on September 4 before facing the Czech Republic in Prague four days later.
Scotland then take on Israel i n t he play-offs before home Nations League games against Slovakia and Czech Republic in the October international break.
The play-off final, which would take Scotland to Norway or Serbia if they beat Israel, will be held on November 12 before the final two matches of the Nations League fixtures take place in the following week.
All 12 original Euro 2020 host venues, i ncluding Hampden, will stage games at the rearranged finals i n June and July next year.
Rangers are yet to find out whether they will play Leverkusen at their own stadium or elsewhere in Germany, with a one-legged knockout tournament set to be held in Cologne, Duisburg, Dusseldorf and Gelsenkirchen for the last eight from August 10-21.
Steven Gerrard’s side lost the home leg 3-1 on March 12, the night before Scottish football was suspended.
Next season’s European club qualifiers will take place in August and September, with all but the Champions League play-offs being staged as a one-off tie. The draw will determine which club will play at home.
Celtic will enter at the Champions League first qualifying round on August 18/19.
Motherwell and Aberdeen will play their first Europa League games o n A u g u s t 2 7, w h i l e Rangers enter at t he second qualifying round on September 17. The subsequent two rounds are in the following fortnight.