Rangers crash out of Champions League after Club Brugge hammering

Rangers suffered one of the worst nights in their European history as they crashed to a 6-0 defeat against Club Brugge that ended their Champions League hopes.

The Ibrox side had travelled to Belgium with hopes of overturning the 3-1 deficit from the first leg and reaching the League Phase of the elite competition, with the glamour games and prize money that go with qualification.

Instead, Russell Martin’s new-look side suffered a 9-1 aggregate defeat that piles further pressure on the head coach just ten games into his tenure.

Martin had spoken pre-match about his belief in being positive to chase the goals Rangers needed. His starting line-up reflected that attacking intent, with Nicholas Raskin and Mohamed Diomande on the bench and Thelo Aasgaard going into the middle of the side with Lyall Cameron in two changes from last week’s match.

The plans were in tatters after just five minutes.

Left-back Joaquin Seys found space to cross and forward Nicolo Tresoldi stooped to head past Jack Butland. Hopes of qualification seemed to be over already but the nightmare was just beginning.

Eight minutes in, a ball through the middle looked to set Christos Tzolis through on goal but Max Aarons pulled him to the ground and was instantly shown a red card. James Tavernier was brought on to replace Oliver Antman and Rangers faced a long and difficult evening as their opponents began to enjoy the numerical advantage.

Tzolis hit the bar from 30 yards and Butland was called into action more than once as the Greek winger and his teammate Carlos Forbs on the opposite flank enjoyed space and plentiful opportunity but it was captain Hans Vanaken who got the second goal, heading in from a corner just after the half-hour mark. Vanake then hit the bar with a volley four minutes later to underline the repeated threat and how Rangers were struggling to deal with attack after attack.

Brugge had raced to a 3-0 lead at Ibrox last week and they did it again on their own turf. Seys was the scorer, forcing a save from Butland with a ferocious shot but then netting the rebound.

The left-back scored his second in the 45^th minute, hitting a stinging volley after a cross was lifted into the box.

A torrid first half was competed in the second added minute when Aleksandar Stankovic headed in Brugge’s fifth from Vanaken’s cross. The teams headed in with the hosts 5-0 ahead on the night and 8-1 up on aggregate.

Martin made a triple change at halftime, bringing on Raskin, Diomande and Finlay Curtis for Aasgaard, Joe Rothwell and Djeid Gassama, switching to a back five in the hope of shutting up shop.

Five minutes after the restart, Brugge extended their lead. Tzolis was the scorer, picking up on Nicolo Tresoldi’s back heel to finish low in the opposite corner.

With the only question remaining being about the final score, the hosts took their foot off the gas to an extent, and Rangers sat deep to try and limit any further chances.

That they managed to go the remaining 40 minutes without conceding further may have been the only tiny positive on a night where Rangers’ Champions League aspirations were brutally ended, and the pressure on their new head coach increased ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm clash with rivals Celtic.