Rangers are sitting at the bottom of Group A after losing their opening three games with zero points and a negative goal difference of nine.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst insisted after the Liverpool defeat that the goal now is to try and finish third in the group and qualify for the Europa League.
Celtic meanwhile lost at RB Leipzig on Wednesday, with Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Madrid the two other teams in their group.
McManus feels that if Rangers had been handed Celtic’s group then they would likely have been able to be more competitive as he cannot see them even getting third.
He stressed that the fans will not mind if they lose by having a go against Liverpool and Ajax in their two games at Ibrox rather than sitting back and still facing defeat.
The former striker said on PLZ Soccer: “If they can get any points, they will take a bit of solace from that.
“I don’t see them getting third place.
“Looking at the table, they will have to beat goal difference in terms of Ajax and the head-to-head as well.
“So, I don’t think there will be European football for Rangers after Christmas.
“Let’s be honest, they have landed in a very tough group.
“I think if they had landed in Celtic’s group, they might have been a bit more competitive.
“But I think the Rangers supporters, particularly at home against Ajax and Liverpool, they will want to see their team having a go and not sitting back and just be lambs to the slaughter.
“They want them to have a go and if they lose, it’s fine.”
Rangers will host Liverpool at Ibrox next week before they take a trip to Napoli and their final group game will be at home against Ajax.
