IN Luxembourg they do not complain about a football talent drain, they encourage it. If a small nation must make a choice between having a strong league and a prosperous national team, this landlocked nation of some 500,000 inhabitants in Western Europe has elected to plump for the latter. It is an argument that may resonate in Scotland, too.

That is perhaps good news for Rangers who welcome Progres Niederkorn to Ibrox on Thursday for the first leg of their Europa League first round qualifying tie, before heading to Luxembourg for the return a week later. Pedro Caixinha’s side will be expected to pass through comfortably to the next round but will do well to note Aberdeen’s experiences from a year ago when they only scraped through against Fola Esch after losing the return match in Luxembourg.

Niederkorn will have noted that, too. They do not have the pedigree of their compatriots – they have lost all 12 European ties they have played, scoring just once – but if Aberdeen can be beaten then perhaps Rangers can, too.

For now they are looking forward to facing a club whose recent turbulent history made headlines even in Luxembourg and welcoming the large travelling support Rangers will carry with them for the return match. If they can cause an upset in that game, too, then all the better.

“It is a big match for Niederkorn,” said Paul Philipp, president of the Luxembourg Football Federation and the former manager of their national team. “Unlike some of our other teams they haven’t played in Europe very often and they were very happy to do that this year. And I think they were even happier when they heard they would be playing against a famous name in Glasgow Rangers. So they are a little bit excited about it and I can understand that.

“All the football fans here followed what happened with Rangers when they were playing in the fourth division. And even at that time we saw that they still had many supporters going to their matches against a lot of much smaller clubs. Everyone in Luxembourg followed that story. So Rangers is still a big name. Maybe not the greatest team at the moment – sorry to say that – but still a famous name.

“Niederkorn are not convinced they will qualify but last year Fola Esch played against Aberdeen. They lost 3-1 in the first match in Scotland but then they won 1-0 here and with a bit of luck they could have scored again to pass through to the next round.

“Aberdeen did not play well in the second game as Fola were the better team that day. And now all the people and all the media mention that match as Niederkorn is playing another Scottish club. Maybe a more famous name but in football terms at the moment Rangers are not stronger than Aberdeen. Therefore, maybe Niederkorn think they can pull off a big surprise.

“So they are not saying they are happy to just be playing against Glasgow Rangers and that is enough. No, no, no, no, no! They have signed a lot of new players and they have a good team. I think they are able to achieve a good result here in Luxembourg. Maybe not qualification, as that will be very difficult, but it is about more than just participating for them.

“I hear this is a big game for Rangers, too, and if they want to bring a lot of supporters to Luxembourg then that would be great. We know all about Scottish fans and it is never a problem. We had Aberdeen here last year and also played against the Scottish national team a few years ago. They were drinking a lot of beer which is good for business but they were all very well behaved. So the Rangers fans will be very welcome.”

Luxembourg may still be seen as one of the minnows of the European game but there have been improvements on Philipp’s 13-year watch as president. They are bottom of their World Cup qualifying group but gained a point away to Belarus, lost by only a single goal to Sweden – Celtic’s Mikael Lustig the unlikely match-winner – and Bulgaria, and equalised against both France and the Netherlands.

Philipp credits that to the creation of a new national football academy and also actively encouraging the best young players to move abroad.

“Our national team have improved a lot in recent times. Why? I think the main reason is because we now have a national football school. Players aged between 10 and 18 come to train here every day and at the weekend they play for their clubs.

“We also have a lot of players playing abroad. We have borders with Germany, Belgium and France and so to improve the quality of our national team we need to have more players in these countries as they have better competition than we have in Luxembourg.

“They get a good education in our football academy and then when they are 16 they go out to professional clubs. That is the best way for us. Of course we are still Luxembourg, a small country, but we can see when we play against better nations that we have improved a lot.

“The clubs sometimes say to us, 'how can we make the league better if the best players always leave?' and it is hard to have both. And we have a lot of foreign players playing in our league. That was a big problem for us before as in some games there were no players with Luxembourg nationality involved. Now in the matchday squads the teams must have seven players who are registered here.”

Philipp was the Luxembourg manager for 16 years and gained his first point in a 0-0 draw with – guess who? – Scotland in 1987. That was in the midst of a more prosperous time for Scottish football and Philipp hopes the good days will return again soon.

“Everybody was asking last year why Northern Ireland, Wales and Iceland was at the Euros and Scotland was not,” he said. “That was a little surprising. But in Luxembourg we hope Scotland will rise again as we like your supporters, and the Irish and Welsh supporters, too. It would be great if the Scottish national team was to qualify again as there is such a big tradition of football in that country. And that is a very important thing.”