Rangers and Fenerbache bow out of Champions League

Rangers and Fenerbahce had their European ambitions of playing in the UEFA Champions League shattered in a night of drama in the qualifying rounds. Philippe Clement’s Rangers were eliminated after losing 2-0 to Dynamo Kyiv at Hampden Park in a match which saw Jefte receive a dubious red card just after the break.

The Scottish side, who were able to only secure a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Poland, had their eyes set on the next round, but the tide switched against them when Jefte was given a second yellow card or rather a second yellow card was given to him, five minutes into the second half. The decision, which Clement said was “clearly, totally not even a foul” left Rangers to fight with ten men. Unfortunately, two late goals from Oleksandr Pikhalyonok and Nazar Voloshyn put Rangers through the exit door of the competition.

At the end of the match, Clement was seen to be annoyed with the referee Marco Guida, and complained that the sending-off was the turning point. In an interview, he said, “We were the better team on the ball against a good Dynamo Kyiv side,” but rued the lost chance to go further. For this reason, Rangers will move to the UEFA Europa League group stage following the elimination of both teams.

On the other hand, Fenerbahce of Jose Mourinho was also knocked out, this time by Lille, a team that was reduced to ten men, in extra time. Fenerbahce had taken the lead through an own goal by Lille’s Bafode Diakite early in the match, but could not sustain it. Lille’s Aissa Mandi was shown a red card for a high foot, but still, Lille’s opponent Fenerbahce failed to seize the opportunity. Jonathan David was able to score the decisive goal in the 118^th minute after a handball foul by Jayden Oosterwolde and thus Lille advanced to the next stage, ousting Mourinho and Fenerbahce from the Champions League.

 In other matches of the third round, Malmo came from a 3-2 deficit at halftime to beat the Greek champions PAOK 4-3 to qualify for the play-off round. In the game against PAOK in Thessaloniki, Nils Zatterstrom scored in the last minutes of the match and Anders Christiansen scored the winner in the extra time.

Other encounters also played out meant that FC Twente failed in their efforts to come from behind against RB Salzburg; Qarabagh on the other hand produced a splendid performance of 7-2 against Ludogorets to progress. Slovan Bratislava, Midtjylland, Bodo/Glimt, and Slavia Prague also qualified for the playoffs, which makes for another round of football drama in Europe.

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