Michael Beale urges Rangers to ‘go hell for leather’ in Champions League

Gers beat the Dutch side at the same stage last year and Beale believes they can approach the rematch with a clear mind knowing they are guaranteed group-stage football until Christmas.

But the former QPR boss is determined to secure Rangers' place in Europe's elite competition in his first season as Ibrox manager.

"Ultimately that's why I ran back to Glasgow when the opportunity came," he said. "Managing this club, those are the opportunities it gives you.

"When I was speaking to the players in the summer, this opportunity was huge.

"You want to pit yourself against the best and our fans want to see the big nights here in Europe, so let's go hell for leather for that.

"It's certainly important to the players because I know it's their dream and ambition. It would be important because it means more finances coming in than if we go into the Europa League.

"We know we're guaranteed that so these two games we can play them with a clear mind and go straight for them. We don't need to worry if we're in or out.

"I've sat beside Steven Gerrard when we had real do-or-die moments against Galatasaray, Legia Warsaw, Ufa for example where it was to get into Europe or not. So with this one, we know we're up to European football until Christmas.

"In our way is an excellent team but it's a fantastic opportunity for everybody."

With the difference in the income between the two competitions in eight figures, the ramifications are clear but Beale believes he and his players are used to playing with such pressure.

"Every three days at Rangers there is a huge game," he said. "The expectation is huge and you see the outcry after a defeat in this city, it is massive.

"Even sometimes when you win, not everybody is happy with the way that you won or the team you picked or the changes you made. It's par for the course and I wouldn't want to trade the seat I am sat in with anybody else.”

He continued: "That expectation is what you want and you can call it pressure.

"But my team will play against an excellent team in the Champions League and that is a lot to enjoy. It's important we embrace it and give it everything.

"We won't think about the other competition until this one is not there for us."

Beale does not believe the outcome of the play-off will have a major bearing on his immediate transfer business.

"There's likely to be more outs than ins because of the size of the squad," he said.

"The board have invested well from January down. What is it, £13million or £14m on 11 players?

"When you say 11 players it doesn't sound like a lot but I think we've done extremely well in the transfer market.

"When you think of (Nicolas) Raskin, (Jose) Cifuentes and (Todd) Cantwell costing a combined £2m, then there's good business been done by this club. (Jack) Butland was on a free transfer, (Kieran) Dowell, (Dujon) Sterling too so the money has been spent on the front areas.

"We did lose five or six players in that area and maybe there will be one or two more out.

"If we can get one in that will make the starting team stronger then that will be great - but I don't think that will depend on what happens in these two games."

Rangers will come up against a former player in Malik Tillman, who has followed up his Ibrox loan move with a similar transfer to PSV.

Beale instigated an option to buy the midfielder but Bayern Munich immediately triggered their buyback clause to leave Gers with a reported £1m but no player.

"We stuck to our side of the agreement," Beale said. "Quite frustratingly for us, Bayern stuck to theirs and did the buyback they had.

"But Malik knows that outside of the games against Rangers he has our full support. He was fantastic for us. I spoke to him a lot over the summer."