Glasgow, Scotland – Rangers’ hopes of reaching the Champions League group stage have suffered a major setback. In the first leg of the playoffs, they lost 3-1 to Belgian team Club Brugge at their home ground, Ibrox Stadium. The match started very poorly for Rangers and they fell behind by 3 goals within just 20 minutes.
Romio Vermant scored the first goal in the third minute of the match. This opportunity came due to a breakdown in Rangers’ defense, when Nacer Ziga and goalkeeper Jack Butland lost coordination. Just four minutes later, Jorne Spilleers scored the team’s second goal by hitting a volley from Christos Tzolis’ corner, which hit John Souter and went into the net. After this, in the 20th minute, Brandon Mekhale scored the third goal with a brilliant half-volley from outside the box. This silenced the entire stadium and put Rangers in a difficult situation.
At halftime, Rangers players and manager Russell Martin faced a lot of boos from the spectators. At the start of the second half, the team tried to make a comeback and in the 49th minute Danilo scored a goal back by heading Jadon Maghoma’s cross. But after this the score did not improve further. In the end, Djeidi Gassama also scored a goal, but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) canceled it due to a foul.
This defeat can prove to be heavy for Rangers, because now they will have to do a big miracle in the second leg to be played in Belgium next week. However, even if they do not reach the group stage of the Champions League, they are sure to get a place in the group stage of the Europa League.
Match statistics
| Statistic | Rangers | Club Brugge |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 1 | 3 |
| Shots on Target | – | – |
| Possession | – | – |
Note: Full match statistics were not available at the time of writing, but key moments and overall performance were indicative of Club Brugge’s dominance in the first half.