Rangers, Hibs & Dundee United to discover Euro opponents
Martin has much to live up to in Europe after Rangers reached the Europa League quarter-finals last season under interim head coach Barry Ferguson.
However, he will hope to improve on the opening Champions League qualifying defeat by Dynamo Kyiv that meant then boss Philippe Clement’s side dropped into the second-tier competition.
Rangers, as is the case for Hibs and United in their competitions, need to come through three stages this time if they are to make the Champions League proper.
Seeded for the draw, they will this time be opening their European campaign against a team who, like themselves, were runners-up in their domestic league.
On paper, Panathinaikos would provide the toughest test, the Greek side being 111th in the European club rankings, 86 places behind Rangers, with Servette 139th (one behind Heart of Midlothian) and Brann 189th.
The Athens side have never lost to Scottish opponents over 90 minutes in four meetings with Rangers, two with Motherwell and one with Aberdeen, winning four of their seven games.
However, it was Rangers who progressed when they last met the Ibrox side.
Having beaten Aberdeen 3-0 at home in the 2007-08 Uefa Cup group stage, the Greeks exiting on away goals after a 0-0 stalemate in Glasgow was followed by a 1-1 draw in Athens in the round of 32.
They had beaten Rangers 3-1 at Ibrox, and drew 1-1 at home, in the Champions League group stage in 2003, while they eased aside Motherwell 5-0 on aggregate in their latest meeting with a Scottish side in 2012 – in the Champions League third qualifying round.
Panathinaikos have not reached the Champions League proper since 2010-11 and last season started in Europa League qualifying, beating Botev Plovdiv but losing to Ajax before qualifying for the Conference League by defeating Lens.
They lost 4-1 at home to eventual winners Chelsea and beat The New Saints 2-0 in Wales in the new league stage, finishing 13th, before beating Vikingur Reykjavik in the knockout phase then losing to Fiorentina in the last 16.
The furthest Servette have progressed in the Champions League, meanwhile, is the third qualifying round, where they were beaten by Rangers after a 1-1 draw in Switzerland followed a 2-1 loss at Ibrox.
In their only other meeting with a Scottish side, they lost by a single goal to Aberdeen in the European Cup second round in 1985.
Last season, they were ousted by Chelsea in the Conference League play-off round after beating Braga.
Rangers’ final potential opponents, Brann, have only once qualified for group-stage football – back in 2007 in the Uefa Cup.
Last season, the Bergen side beat Go Ahead Eagles in the Conference League second qualifying round, then defeated St Mirren 4-2 on aggregate after a 3-1 win in Norway, before losing to Astana in the play-off round.
Whichever of the three sides they face, Rangers will begin their campaign on 22/23 and 29/30 July.
Emerge victorious and they will be in the Champions League third qualifying draw on 21 July. Lose and it will be the same stage of the Europa League.